Digimon Adventure X1
by Darkest101 Reviews
Summary: A group of seven teenagers are taken from summer camp into another world where monsters are the only life. There, they each befriend their own partner, their own Digital Monster and set off on an adventure to save the world of Digimon.
1. And So It Begins

**Digimon Adventure**

**X**

**Chapter One: And so it Begins…**

_(This is basically my rewriting of Digimon Adventure, with hints of Digimon Adventure X [Done by me] thrown in as well. Eventually we'll move onto 02 which will contain more heavy hints of the original X.)_

The sun shone brightly over Japan. This especially made the day of a group of summer campers at the base of a small mountain. The younger children ran around whilst they waited for their counsellors to collect them and give them their activities. The older kids, well, teenagers, those responsible enough to look after themselves walked around, taking part in some more dangerous activities. However that was not to say all of them were.

A tall, dark haired youth lounged asleep on the branch of a tall tree. He was dressed casually, a long sleeved blue shirt with orange stars on the shoulders. His cargo shorts were a pleasant brown and his trainers were a glossy white, with blue laces and soles with, yellow spots alongside.

His hands were encased in a pair of white gloves, and on one arm he wore a black sweatband. His skin was lightly tanned, and his hair was a chocolate brown that stuck up in spikes. Around his neck was a pair of round goggles on a blue and black band of elastic material.

The boy was Taichi (Tai) Kamiya. As he slept he snored slightly and rolled onto his side, nearly falling out the tree. A soft breeze lazily flicked a stand of hair off of his face. Tai screwed up his face and opened eyes the same shade of brown as his hair. Sitting upright, he stretched his arms and yawned deeply. He rubbed sleep from his eyes and looked down. Yawning again, he began a careful climb down from his perch.

Once back on ground level he stretched from head to toe, hands above his head. As he relaxed he felt something cold and wet land on his nose. Tai stopped and looked up. Dark clouds were beginning to roll over the bright sun. He sighed. He knew that the good weather wouldn't last for long. The weather had been acting peculiar for a few weeks now.

Tai began to walk back to his cabin, deciding that he'd grab a jacket before he headed back to play some football, when it started to snow…

(X)

Sora Takenouchi dabbed her forehead and set her racket down. She was tired and worn out from an afternoon's tennis practice on one of the camp courts and she was ready for a good shower and then maybe hanging out with some friends.

Sora quickly walked into the changing rooms and stripped her tennis gear off, then she looked around slightly awkward. When she made sure no one else was there, she quickly undressed and stepped into a shower cubicle. She turned the shower on hot and then basked in the hot water that ran over her body and through her auburn hair. She closed her brown eyes for a few moments before opening them and grabbing the soap.

Five minutes later Sora emerged from the shower and grabbed a towel. After a few minutes of drying herself off Sora quickly pulled on her casual clothes that consisted of blue jeans and a white blouse, and walked out of the changing rooms feeling refreshed.

She was just in time to see the first few snow flakes falling to the ground.

(X)

Yamato (Matt) Ishida had several things he wanted to do, and being at this camp was not one of them. Still, it was the first time he had got to see his younger brother in a few months, ever since his brother's thirteenth birthday party.

For some reason none of the camp's activities really seemed his sort of thing. He'd spent the last few hours just lounging on a grassy slope, basking in the sunlight. His blonde hair practically shone under the sun's gaze. Although it was summer he wore a black shirt with top two buttons undone and faded grey jeans.

A chilly wind played with his hair and a strange shadow blacked out the light that seeped through Matt's closed lids. He opened a single blue eye lazily. A cloud as black as ink was drifting swiftly across the crystal clear sky.

Matt sighed then groaned as he got to his feet, his body stiff from lying down for so long. As he rolled his neck, snow flakes began to circle down from the sky.

(X)

Sitting on the step to his cabin was a boy slightly shorter than others his age. He stared intently at the screen of his laptop. The boy was named Koushiro (Izzy) Izumi. He seemed too engrossed into finding out for the cause of his laptop's recent malfunctions to bother taking part in any of the activities the camp had to offer.

He sighed and slumped back, seemingly defeated for a moment. He fingered with the collar of his black t-shirt that he wore underneath his bright orange button up. He closed the laptop and tucked it under his arm before standing up and walking back into his cabin. He didn't notice it had started to snow until he walked back outside.

(X)

Mimi Tachikawa sat amongst her friends gossiping as girls do. Although the counsellors had said that they had to be involved in one activity per day, Mimi was far too self conceited to even consider sinking to the level of physical exertion.

She laughed and gasped at all the juicy gossip that her friends kept feeding her. She liked the fact that they all looked up to her as the font of all wisdom. She liked that role a lot.

Mimi rolled back on her seat on top of the picnic table at a particularly interesting rumour that she herself had spread. As she opened her eyes and looked at the sky, she pouted at the darkening sky. She really wasn't a fan of the rain.

It was actually a welcome surprise when she discovered that it wasn't rain that fell from the sky today.

(X)

It was good to have his older brother not hanging over his shoulder for once but Takeru (T.K.) Takashi missed his brother even though he knew what he would do was just hang over his shoulder to make sure he didn't cut his thumb off or something.

His brother may have been over protective of him, but he was still family and the time they spent apart thanks to their parents divorce… there was just too big a gap there.

He shrugged off this thought and smiled. This was the first time he could practice since he arrived. The basketball court was free of younger campers and his brother wasn't hanging over his shoulder.

T.K.'s smile widened. He bounced his basketball experimentally, then practiced his dribbling for a few paces. Only when he noticed his breath fanning out in front of him, did he see the snow falling around him.

(X)

Joe Kido wasn't happy. His parents had decided that he wasn't getting out enough. He sighed. He'd tried explaining to them that the reason he didn't get out much was because he was studying for his final year of medical studies.

He tried to please them one way and he ended up disappointing them in another. He scowled and put his hands in his head. Quizzing himself was the only way he could make sure that he didn't slip behind in his studies but he couldn't remember the symptoms of kwashiorkor disease!

He gave an exasperated sigh and pulled off his glasses and began to wipe them. When he put them back on he was shocked and appalled to see one of his text books was wet in spots. He sighed and picked it up, ready to take his stuff back into his cabin to continue his self quizzing when he noticed that it was snowing.

(X)

Tai stared into the sky in blind shock. It shouldn't be snowing. It _couldn't_ be snowing. It was impossible. He shivered and wrapped his arms around himself, his breath fogging out in a pale cloud.

An icy wind whipped his hair. On that wind, Tai thought he heard the chilling ghost of a laugh. And then the snow fell harder. It piled on the ground in clusters, a veritable blizzard that chilled him to the bone.

Tai staggered through the snowstorm, pulling his goggles over his eyes in an effort to shield them from the elements. The wind buffeted him stronger than any physical blow could. The laughter Tai had heard before came again, stronger and mocking.

"Tai!" cried a voice, brushed by his ear before being stolen by the wind. Tai looked around for the source of the voice as the blizzard seemed to choke the surrounding land with an icy grip.

"Tai!" The voice came again, closer this time. Tai stumbled to where he thought it was coming from, his feet already becoming numb with cold as melting snow seeped into his trainers.

"Tai!" came the voice, right next to him. He looked up and saw Sora standing beside him and tugging at his sleeve. She ran off into the blizzard, Tai clomping away behind her.

A cabin loomed out from nowhere. Tai didn't know if it was his but he was glad it was there. He just wanted to get out of the cold wind and warm up. Sora slammed her shoulder against the door and it blew open, snow collecting on the floor just behind the door.

Tai shuffled in after her and someone on the other side of the door closed with some apparent effort. But close it did. Tai rubbed his arms to get some circulation back into them. He looked about the cabin to see who else was there.

Aside himself and Sora there were five other campers. He recognised all of them on face value, but it took his numb brain a second longer to remember names. A shorter boy with slick red hair he had met at school a few times that was named Izzy. A trainee W.A.G standing in the corner trying to get cell-phone signal he knew was called Mimi.

A tall boy with dark blue hair, clutching at a stack of medical textbooks he knew to be called Joe. And then there were the two boys who had closed the door against the wind, and were now sliding a bolt across it. Brothers Tai knew, named T.K. and Matt.

They looked up at him as he came in, all aside the brothers, who were looking out the windows in grim awe. Izzy looked up from the screen of his laptop for a brief moment, before returning to some complex looking calculations.

"You okay Tai?"

It took Tai's numb brain to figure out that Sora was talking to him. He looked at his friend and tried his best to give her a smile. She wasn't convinced. She reached a hand out and felt his forehead. Her eyes widened in shock.

"Tai you're freezing," she commented. She dragged Tai across the cabin, and he was about to complain when she threw a blanket at him. He sighed and wrapped it around himself, grateful for the warmth.

"Argh," cried Mimi, stamping her foot, causing Joe to jump and drop a book at the sudden noise. "I can't get any signal! Stupid snow."

Izzy didn't bat an eyelid at this outburst. He stared deeply into the screen of his laptop. He tapped at a few keys and shook his head before closing the lid on it, clearly disliking what he had seen there.

"Well that made absolutely no sense," he muttered.

Tai was about to ask what, but decided against it. An explanation for someone like Izzy could take a day at the very least. Mimi opened her mouth then apparently came to the same conclusion as Tai.

Tai felt the warmth return to his limbs and shook off the blanket, despite Sora's protests. He joined Matt and T.K. in staring out the window. He wondered just when the snow would stop.

(X)

When Tai opened the door at last, he expected a powerful blast of wind to hit the back of it. However when no winds or snow came through the door he opened it fully and took a sharp intake of breath at the sight that met his eyes.

Outside of the door it seemed as though the Arctic Circle was spread out before him. He stepped down from the doorway and his foot crunched into deep snow. He gasped at the numbing cold that bit into his leg. He lifted his foot and shook off the small clumps of snow that clung to his feet.

"Damn," he whispered, his breath fogging out in a white mist.

"It's… beautiful," Sora muttered stepping out into the snow beside him.

"It's cold that's what it is," Matt muttered from the doorway.

Izzy stepped out further into the snow field, oblivious to the freezing temperature. He stooped down and scooped up a handful of snow. He frowned and turned his hand over and let the snow fall back to the ground.

"This is impossible," he murmured.

Tai couldn't help but agree. It was impossible but it had happened. Tai stepped further out into the snow, biting his lip against the cold. After a few strides he was standing by Izzy.

"What do you think?" he asked.

Izzy looked at him and shrugged.

"I would suggest climate change if we were currently in winter but we're in summer. I don't have any theories other than a freak spell of weather. There could be a more scientific way of explaining this but we'd need a team of top scientists and thousands of dollars worth of equipment."

Tai raised an eyebrow.

"Hey, I'm smart but I'm not _that_ good."

Tai smiled in understanding. The smile vanished as something hard made contact with the back of his head. He turned around, flinching as small flakes of snow fell down his back. Matt smirked as he reached down to pick up another clump of snow.

"Oh it is on Matt!" Tai cried, bending down and scooping up some snow of his own. Matt laughed at Tai's reaction, and quickly began to pack the snow in his hands together. But Tai was slightly faster.

Matt cried out as Tai's snowball hit him square in the chest. He laughed and threw his own back at him, but Tai sidestepped to the right, laughing all the while. Sora sighed and put her hands on her hips, smiling at the childish antics of the two other boys.

Izzy ducked down through the snowballs being thrown and stepped back into the cabin. He might not have the right equipment, but he would be able to see what other scientists across the globe thought. Thank you internet.

T.K. stepped out to join everyone else, all of whom were looking at the sky, aside from Tai and Matt who were still throwing snowballs. He stood in between Joe and Sora and looked up.

"Do you think it's gonna' snow again?" he wondered aloud. Joe shrugged and adjusted his glasses.

"We have to assume so. We didn't think it was gonna' snow now but it did so it could happen again."

"True," Sora agreed. Mimi looked at her, then pulled out her phone. She gave an exasperated sigh that she was still not receiving a signal. Sora looked at her. "Maybe you should put that away. Why can't you just enjoy what's happened before it disappears?"

Mimi looked at her. She sighed and slipped her phone into her pocket. "I suppose it is pretty," she conceded.

"Do you?" asked Izzy stepping out from the cabin, a small bag slung over his shoulder. "You think it's pretty? You are a fascinating individual you know that right?"

Mimi threw him a dirty look before she bent down and scooped up some snow into her hands. Izzy rolled his eyes and easily sidestepped the clumsily thrown snow ball. Mimi stomped her foot and spun away from him. Izzy sighed and looked at the sky. His mouth dropped open.

"And I thought the snow was impossible," he breathed. Sora looked at him then looked back at the sky. Her eyes widened and she took a sharp intake of breath.

"It's beautiful."

Tai and Matt looked up from their snowball fight and concentrated their gaze on the sky. Their jaws dropped.

"Damn."

The sky, that had until recently been filled with dark clouds was now a sea of raging colours. Reds and greens and blues. Yellows and oranges, all the colours of the rainbow danced in a twisting, stretching, an eternally changing pattern.

"It so… hypnotic," T.K. muttered.

"It's so beautiful," Mimi breathed.

"Yeah, but what is it exactly?" Tai asked.

"Maybe it's an aurora?" suggested Sora.

"You mean the Aurora Borealis, the Northern Lights?" Izzy confirmed. "That's impossible. You see that in Alaska. We're way too far south."

"Tell that to the snow," muttered Sora.

"I really think we should go inside," Joe suggested. "Before we really _do_ catch pneumonia."

"And miss _this_?" Matt asked, looking at Joe as if he was insane. "The sky is short-circuiting."

As Matt was speaking, the lights in the sky shifted. Tai caught a glimpse of a swirling green vortex. Then it was gone, hidden behind the shifting sea of colours. Tai squinted and could just make out the vortex against the clouds.

"Hey," Tai said. "What's that?"

Matt looked at him and then back at the sky. "I don't see anything. You okay Tai?"

Tai nodded. He was sure he could see the vortex behind the lights, just out of sight, yet still visible. Then the lights disappeared, as though they had never existed, swirling into a single point. And now the vortex of green fire was visible for all eyes to see.

"Whoa," Matt gasped as he took a hurried step back. Tai was about to agree with him when a flash of light burst from the hole in the sky. This single light split into seven pink glowing spheres that fell toward them, burning as they fell through the atmosphere.

"Duck and cover!" Tai cried, realizing that whatever the objects were, they were falling directly at them. Matt looked at him, then understood and dived aside, not caring about how cold the snow was.

The group quickly disappeared in various snow drifts, all except Mimi who didn't want to get cold. Izzy quickly stood up and pushed her over before dropping back into the snow, just as the objects hit the ground, disappearing in a cloud of steam.

Tai rolled over in the snow and got to his feet. He looked around, suddenly afraid if someone had been hit.

"Is everyone okay?" he called.

Matt slowly clambered to his feet. "We're still here."

Joe got to his hands and knees, looking slightly shaken. "What… what was that?"

One by one the group got to their feet. Izzy however was no where to be seen.

"Izzy!" Tai called "Are you okay?"

"Dude, over here," Izzy called. Tai looked over and Saw Izzy crouching in a patch clear of snow. Water was soaking into the grass, but Izzy was looking into a crater in the Earth.

"Were they meteors?" Izzy muttered to himself. Tai walked over to Izzy, just as he noticed a beam of light rise from the crater nearest him.

"Okay," Izzy said, standing up abruptly as another beam rose from just in front of him. "So they're not meteors."

Tai stepped up to the beam and stared at it. It was warm and bright, but pleasantly so. He didn't have the need to shield his eyes from the light stream.

Tai suddenly got the urge to stick his hand into the beam. Only when he did so, did he think of what could go wrong. But nothing happened. For about five seconds. Then the light disintegrated. Tai raised an eyebrow and flipped his hand over. Nothing had changed.

Something flashed. Tai blinked and in that moment something materialised in his hand. He looked at this new object with an air of fascination and confusion. It looked like a small, rounded cross. A small black antenna emerged from one of the rounded edges and in the centre of its blue surface was a small black circle with a rectangular mini screen in it. On one side of the black circle was a single oval button, and on the other were two of the same.

"What are these?" asked a voice from behind him. Tai turned around and saw that everyone else had one of the strange devices.

Izzy tilted his head as he looked at his. "My guess is some sort of remote digital apparatus."

"No instructions?" Joe said turning his over to see if there was anything on the back, oblivious to a sudden rumbling that came up from beneath them.

"Forget the instructions!" Tai cried, as a wall of water erupted from nowhere in front of them. "Surf's up!"

Before anyone else could react, the water fell towards them. Tai had one moment to take in a breath before his world was filled with rippling currents and silver bubbles.

(X)

"Tai… Tai…"

Tai groaned, his head ringing like a bell. Someone was speaking his name. Tai screwed up his eyes and tried to open them. When he did manage to open them, he was nearly blinded by a strange, yellow tinged light. He hissed, then coughed. He rolled over, retching and coughing up the water that was in his lungs.

"Tai? Are you okay?" asked a voice, but not one that Tai recognised at first. It sounded vaguely familiar.

"Yeah, I'm okay," Tai muttered. He looked over to the source of the voice. His heart froze in his chest.

Squatting in front of him was a small ball of pink flesh, with sharp teeth, long ears and bright red eyes. Tai stared at it for a few moments. It stared back at him.

"Oh-kay," Tai muttered edging away from the creature. "That's the last time I eat camp food."

The creature laughed and _bounced_ on the spot. It continued to bounce, laughing all the while, moving a foot closer to Tai with each bounce.

"You don't need to be afraid of me Tai!" the creature cried merrily. "I'm your friend, I'm your friend, I'm your friend!"

"Er," Tai said, taking a rapid step back. "Just _what_ are you? Have you had your rabies shots?"

The creature chuckled and bounced a full ring around Tai. "Everything's going to be alright now Tai! I've been waiting for you!"

On this last word the creature bounced at Tai. Tai's instincts took over and he caught the creature in his arms. Tai had the urge to throw it away, but something held he back.

"Waiting for me?" Tai asked confused. The creature smiled.

"My name's Koromon. And we're partners!"

"Koromon?" Tai repeated, confused. "That means… 'Talking head?'"

Koromon chuckled. "It means 'Brave little warrior' and don't forget it Tai."

"Okay," Tai said. He didn't know what it was but he felt like he had seen this strange persona before. A long time ago… hidden deep in his memories. He shook it off. Whatever it was it was telling him that he could trust this little guy.

"So," Tai said. "What did you mean you've been waiting for me? And how do you know my name?"

"Tai?"

Tai turned at the sound of the other voice, a lot more familiar than the voice of this creature in his arms. Izzy was looking at him from behind a tree, looking slightly bedraggled and more than a little bit wet.

"Izzy," Tai cried. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm cool," Izzy replied. "But I've got this little pink thing following me."

As Izzy said this, a small, pink creature waddled up behind him. It was knee height, with several stumpy legs. Its arms had small stubs for fingers and its eyes were a dullish red.

"It is me Motimon," the creature announced. "At your service! Anybody want lunch?"

A shocked Tai jumped and accidentally threw Koromon. "Another one? What are they?"

The creature who identified itself as Motimon jumped toward Tai. "My friend's call me Motimon," he repeated in his high pitched voice. Then he paused for a moment, before his face split into a smile again. "Everyone does actually!"

Izzy walked up beside Motimon. "I believe that those remote digital gadgets have taken on an actually life form," he theorised. He put his hands on his hips as he studied Motimon. "I don't remember reading this in any wildlife study."

"You think?" Tai said raising an eyebrow at Izzy's bizarre comment. "It's weird."

Tai looked around for the first time since he had woken up. They were in some sort of forest, no, jungle clearing. Strange tree bearing even stranger fruit sprouted from the ground around them. Vines hung from various branches and then there was that weird light.

"The vegetation is lush," Izzy commented, looking at a tree. He then knelt down and examined the ground. "But, the soil appears to be rather common."

"Nothing is common in the Digital World!" Motimon cried, bouncing.

"That's right Tai," Koromon chirped. "You're in the digital world!"

"Okay," Tai muttered. "And where is the Digital World?"

"I don't car so much as _where_ it is," Izzy said. "I want to know _what_ it is."

Tai rolled his eyes and walked over to the tallest tree around them. "Guess I'll just have to see for myself."

Tai judged the distance between the lowest branch and the top of his head. He took a few deep breaths then leapt as high as he could, kicking off from the tree slightly. His gloved fingers gripped on the lowest branch. Tai grunted and pulled himself up, thankful that the branch was able to support his weight.

Tai knelt on the branch for a moment to catch a breath, then stood slowly up on the branch. Tai repeated this process until he reached on of the higher branches in the tree. He sat down; noting that unlike most trees there weren't that many leaves to block his view.

Tai decided not to let it bother him and reached into his back pocket for his mini-telescope. He wobbled slightly and he threw out his arms to keep his balance. Once he thought that he steady again, he slowly brought the telescope to his eye.

As he did so he heard a rustle below him. He looked down, and saw Koromon climbing through the branches faster than he could. Koromon's climbing method was to bounce to the next branch then swing to safety by grabbing it with his ears. An impressive technique Tai had to admit.

He returned his attention back to observing wherever it is they were. He panned his gaze, trying to see something other than jungle. Something glinted in his vision. He flicked up the zoom and saw crystal clear waters.

"The ocean?" Tai muttered. "Our camp was nowhere near the ocean."

He panned his gaze a little further and saw a craggy point jutting from the ground.

"I sure don't remember those mountains," Tai murmured. He paused for a moment, as Koromon reached a branch near enough level with his, on the other side of the tree. "Something tells me a compass isn't gonna' help much."

"Yo Tai?" Koromon asked. "You see anything?"

"Nothing I recognise," Tai said, moving to put his telescope back into his pocket when he heard a deep low rumbling noise, like the sound of a fly's wings beating, but the pitch made it seem stronger, as if the insect was larger.

"Wait?" Tai said slowly, lifting his telescope to his eye again. "What's that?"

This time, Tai panned his gaze across the skies. Something flashed across his vision. Something large and bright red. Tai scanned the sky for it again and saw it. It was looping in the air, a large, red beetle-like insect, with a red exoskeleton that had black markings on it. Its underbelly was a rigid array of various shades of green.

"Some kind of giant red beetle," Tai muttered. Then he noticed its trajectory. "And it's flying right at us!"

The insect opened huge jaws, mandibles clacking horrible. Tai hooked his legs around the branch he sat on and tilted backwards so he hung off the branch by his legs. He felt the tree shake as the creature sliced the top of the tree off with a single swipe of those enormous mandibles.

Down on the ground Tai could here cries of alarm for Izzy and Motimon. Tai looked over to make sure Koromon was okay. His new-found friend was hanging off the tree by his ears.

Tai sighed began to pull himself up, when Koromon's terrified voice sounded.

"Here he comes again!"

Tai whipped his head around seeing the insect carving a wide arc, ready to come back for another pass.

"What the heck is that thing?" Tai cried.

"Kuwagumon," Koromon explained. "An insect type. He's got teeth like knives and mandibles that'll chop through anything!"

Tai grimaced and looked down, then back at Kuwagumon.

"This is gonna hurt," Tai groaned. Before he could do anything, Koromon launched himself out of the tree, spitting pink bubbles in Kuwagumon's face. The insect roared and dipped slightly. It wasn't much but it was enough to see that Koromon bounced off of his head and not into his mouth.

Tai gave his friend a quick concerned gaze, before sliding off his branch and underneath Kuwagumon's chomping jaws. Tai fell for straight down for a few moments before his foot snagged on a branch, causing Tai to twist, and land on the next branch painfully before falling to the next one. The wind was knocked out of Tai's lungs and he swore he heard something crack. He prayed that it was a branch.

Then, there were no more branches. Tai thought the worst was over with, before the ground slammed into his back. Tai lay there for a few moments in silent agony, taking agonised breaths in through tortured lungs.

He heard rushed footsteps and suddenly Izzy was above him, trying to prop him upright.

"Tai, are you ok?" Izzy asked.

Tai looked at him as if he was stupid.

"Dumb question," Izzy realized aloud. He quickly placed a hand to his chest. Tai winced, but Izzy sighed in relief. "Nothing broken," he told Tai. "I may not be a doctor but I still have some medical knowledge."

Tai nodded as he heard a pathetic thump somewhere nearby. He looked up. His eyes widened and he pushed Izzy aside as he got to his feet.

"Tai you really shouldn't strain yourself," Izzy protested.

Tai ignored him as he limped towards the motionless form of Koromon. His friend was motionless for a few moments before shuddering. Tai knelt down and picked him up into his arms.

"You should pick on bugs your own size," Tai muttered as Koromon looked at him. Then he smiled. "That was pretty cool though. You're brave for a little guy."

Koromon gave him a lopsided grin.

"I was nothing."

"Uh Tai!" Izzy called. Tai looked around and saw his friend backing up to him, looking into the sky. "He's coming this way again!"

Tai followed Izzy's gaze and gulped. Kuwagumon was swooping down, roaring with animalistic rage.

"Oh dear oh dear!" cried Motimon, waving his arms up and down. "We need to go. Quickly! This way!"

The small creature ran through the undergrowth faster than Tai would expect of someone with such small legs. Tai hesitated for an instant, then sprinted off after Motimon, still clutching Koromon with one hand, and his bruised chest with the other.

Trees and branches whipped at his face and obscured his vision of the rapidly fleeting Motimon. The stumbling uncoordinated footsteps behind him he knew to be Izzy. Motimon looked back at them.

"Hurry up!" he cried. "For having two long legs you guys are awfully slow."

Tai tried to stretch his strides longer but his battered lungs screamed in protest. He staggered for a few paces before pushing himself harder. This turned out to be wasted effort as Motimon stopped just in front of a huge tree. He looked up and down, murmuring to himself. He then looked back again.

"Quickly! In here!" he cried. And he jumped through the bark and into the tree, disappearing in a mass of green ripples.

Tai took one look back at Kuwagumon and leapt into the tree himself, hoping that he would go through the bark and not bounce off into Kuwagumon's jaws.

He was pleasantly surprised when he went through the bark. It was like jumping through a sheet of warm water. When Tai emerged on the other side he looked up and around.

The insides of the tree were plated chrome metal. Some unknown light source reflected a white shine off of the metal interior of the tree.

Tai stumbled as Izzy crashed into him, the shorter boy gasping for breath. Tai turned and put a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"You okay?" Tai asked. Izzy looked at him and gave a him a cheesy grin and a thumbs up.

"Prodigious," he panted. Izzy slumped down on the ground and looked around the trees insides. "What kid of tree is this?"

Motimon rolled his eyes as if it were obvious as he replied: "Well it's a hiding tree silly."

Izzy looked at Motimon.

"In all my years," Izzy said. "I have never heard anything so ridiculous!"

"Shhh!" breathed Motimon. "It's not soundproof you know!"

As if to prove his words, Kuwagumon's roar cut through the air like a knife. Tai flinched and Motimon curled up into a ball.

"Quiet now," Koromon whispered. "Don't make a sound."

Tai complied, resisting the urge to lean against the chrome walls of the tree. Eventually the beating of insect wings disappeared. Motimon slowly uncurled himself and looked around.

"I think it's safe," he whispered.

Tai nodded in silent agreement. He looked at the wall, took a deep breath in and closed his eyes. He stepped through the wall again, appearing back in the jungle, stepping straight into someone.

Tai jumped, opening his eyes to see who he had bumped into. He let out a relieved sigh as he saw the familiar face.

"Sora," he said, holding a hand to his chest, smiling despite his heart hammering behind his ribcage.

Sora looked just as shaken as he felt. She looked a little worse for wear, with mud caking her knees and a slight damp clinging to her hair. A few scratches marked her arms but otherwise she was fine.

"Jesus Tai!" Sora panted looking at him with a scolding but relieved look. "You nearly gave me a heart attack!"

"Sorry," Tai apologised, his rapidly beating heart slowing down. "We were just setting the trap we were gonna' set for that big bug."

"We?" Sora said confused.

Helpfully at that moment, Izzy stuck his head out of the tree and looked around.

"Is the coast clear?" he asked, not noticing Sora.

Sora jumped slightly at the sudden appearance of Izzy out of, for all she knew, thin air.

"Geez!" she cried. "Is everyone trying to scare me to death today?"

Izzy stepped out of the tree looking bashful, scratching the back of his head. Sora looked slightly relieved at the sight of Izzy. Tai looked around for any sign of Kuwagumon, but a voice interrupted him.

"He is gone."

Tai looked down at the high-pitched feminine voice. Standing next to Sora's leg was a small plant like creature. It had a small, bulbous body that was supported by hundreds of root-like feet. Out of the creatures head bloomed a tall, blue flower. Its eyes were a grassy green and outside each eye were four short lines, like the tips of a cross.

"I am enchanted to meet you friends of Sora," the creature expressed. "Welcome to the digital world."

"Oh yeah," Sora said following Tai's gaze. "Tai, Izzy, meat Yokomon. My own personal…" she looked at Yokomon, hoping she would give her some help. When none came, Sora sighed and continued. "My own personal something or other."

"Looks kind of like a vegetable," Izzy muttered, earning a scowl from Sora. "I guess she must be another one of them." He looked back as Koromon and Motimon emerged from the tree and looked bemusedly at Sora. "Whatever they are."

Tai nodded in agreement as a small rustle came from behind the tree they had been hiding in. Tai was instantly on alert but what emerged was a small, dog like creature, with stubby legs and long ears like Koromon's. Its fur was a deathly white and inside its mouth, Tai caught a glimpse of razor sharp teeth in many rows.

"Another one?" Tai said, raising an eyebrow. "They're popping up everywhere."

The creature looked at Tai with its beady black eyes and smiled, revealing a vicious incisor.

"Hello," it said in reply. "I am Tokomon." It looked around at where it had come from. "Hey, I found more or them!"

From the same bush that Tokomon appeared from there emerged two more figures that the impromptu group recognised.

"Hey," T.K. said, looking bedraggled but otherwise unhurt. Tai looked over at Matt who appeared behind his brother.

"You too?" Tai said.

"Yep, I'm here too," Matt replied. Tai sighed and nodded to Matt's left.

"No, I meant that under your arm."

"Oh," Matt said. "This guy? Yeah well…"

The creature underneath Matt's arm looked slightly bashful. It was small and like Koromon possessed no limbs. It's skin was an orange-brown for the most part, but around the face it was a pale white. Its eyes were a slight red and emerging from its forehead was a curved, vicious looking horn.

"Hello," it said at last. "You appear pleasant. Tsunomon is my name and I am quite pleased to meet you."

T.K. ignored this exchange and bent down to pick up Tokomon. When he did so the little creature began to squirm in his grip. T.K. chuckled a little but tried to restrain his new friend.

"So where's everyone else?" he asked as he continued to struggle with Tokomon.

"We haven't found them yet," Tai explained.

"More appropriately I'd say that they haven't found us yet," Izzy corrected. Tai growled slightly but ignored him.

"So what are we going to do?" Matt asked.

"What do you mean what do we do?" Tai asked. "We look about and see if we can find the others."

"What you mean Joe the study freak and that other girl?" Sora said raising an eyebrow.

"Her name is Mimi," Tai reminded.

"Well she's probably just picking flowers," Izzy suggested. "Or on some sort of nature hunt."

And then a scream cut through the air.

"Okay so she's not picking flowers," Izzy commented.

"Let's go!" Tai cried, sprinting off in the direction the scream came from.

"Do you think she's okay?" Tai heard Matt call from behind him.

"Let's hope so," he heard Izzy call in answer.

The undergrowth passed before him and he could only hope he was still going in the right direction. If he wasn't he was leading the others into a natural maze with no way to get out.

As soon as he had thought this however he heard the furious and familiar tones of Mimi's voice. He couldn't tell what was being said but he knew someone was in trouble.

He burst suddenly into a clearing, Koromon and the others hot on his heels. Tai blinked a few times and took in the scene before him. Mimi was leaning over a cowering Joe, beating her fists upon the arms that he had thrown above his head to defend himself.

Beside Mimi there stood another one of the creatures. Like Sora's this one was also plant-like. Its eyes were a deep maroon. Its face was white whilst the rest of its onion shaped body was a pale green. A stem grew from the top of its head and branched off into four leaves. Instead of root-like tentacles, four small feet emerged from the creature's underside.

Cowering behind Joe was yet another creature. This one, had brown oily skin everywhere except its stomach, which with a pure white. It possessed no fingers or hands, having simple flippers and not feet. Its eyes were a crystal blue and it had a single spiky column of fiery orange hair.

"Don't do that!" Mimi was screaming. "Don't sneak up on people with something that – that _THING_ hanging over your shoulder!"

The brown creature that floated behind Joe raised a fin in indigence. "Who 're you callin' a thing?" he asked offended. "I'm no stuffed animal."

Mimi screamed again and aimed a loosely packed punch at the creature hovering around Joe's shoulders which the creature easily dodged. It stuck its tongue out before continuing.

"The name is Bukamon!" it announced proudly.

"Get it away from me!" cried Mimi taking a few steps back.

"Mimi relax!" Tai called out as he stepped towards them.

Mimi squealed and tripped over the plant creature at her heels in a fit of girlish shock. The creature, rather than being offended, simply galloped over to Mimi and offered support.

"Mimi are you alright?" it asked as Mimi pushed herself into a sitting position.

"I think so," Mimi grunted.

"Don't worry," the creature reassured. "Tanemon is here to protect you."

Mimi smiled before she pushed herself to her feet. She then gave Joe a scathing look and stomped over to Tai.

_Uh-oh,_ Tai thought to himself, seeing the look in Mimi's eye. Mimi stopped an inch away from Tai and leaned in.

"Don't sneak up on me like that!" she screamed. Tai winced and put his fingers in his ears. "Don't sneak up on me when there are these- these..!"

And the she spotted the little gang of mismatched creature's that were now cowering behind their chosen partners. Her eyes widened and she took a single step back.

"What are they?" she whispered.

Tai opened his mouth to say something, but then realized that he didn't know the answer. He cast Izzy a pleading glance but the prodigy just shrugged. Tai looked down at Koromon. The creature looked at him expectantly. As Tai opened his mouth again, a familiar, low rumbling started.

Tai looked up rapidly at the source, already knowing what to expect. As he thought, Kuwagumon's red shelled skull burst through the tree canopy, wings buzzing, mandibles clacking and letting out a strange animalistic roar.

Instantly Mimi threw her hands up to her face in sheer terror. Before she could scream however, Tai grabbed her arm and pulled her along after the other who had already turned and fled from the rampaging creature. Tai looked around and saw Kuwagumon dive through the tree canopy, open maw consuming everything that he happened to come across.

Tai grimaced and ran all the harder, practically dragging Mimi behind him. He could hear her complaining about trivial things like her outfit and her hair but he didn't care much for Mimi's complaints at the moments. Although he was dragging Mimi behind him Tai caught up with the rest of the group, Kuwagumon's roar growing fainter ever so slightly.

For a moment Tai was hopeful until the reached the edge of the jungle. Tai took a few steps out from the tree line and stopped dead. The reason was clear. In front of them was a jagged cliff edge. A small ledge jutted out in a craggy point for a few yards before tailing off in a vertical drop. Tai let Mimi's arm drop and stepped cautiously toward the cliff edge.

"Be careful Tai," Sora called.

Tai didn't respond. Instead dropping to his knees and looking out over the edge of the cliff, hoping to see some sort of way down. Far below a winding river twinkled in the sunlight. Closer at hand, Kuwagumon's roar was gradually getting nearer.

Tai got up and turned to the others.

"There's no safe way down," he announced bitterly. "We're going to have to stand and fight."

"What?" Sora cried. "That's pointless!"

"She's right," Matt agreed taking a step forward. "There's no way we can fight that thing!"

"Not and win at any rate," Izzy added.

Tai clenched his jaw. "Then what's your alternative?"

Matt strode over to Tai, Koromon and Tsunomon in tow. "Maybe we could rope a few vines together and parasail down," Matt suggested.

"There's no time!" Tai shouted.

As if to prove this point Kuwagumon let out another ear splitting roar. The rest of the group took nervous glances behind them and took a few steps toward Tai and Matt. Tai scowled and stood face-on to the jungle.

"What do we do?" Mimi asked, only just keeping herself from hysterics.

"We fight!" called a voice from ground level.

Tai looked down, shocked at Koromon's response. The small creature was staring defiantly at the tree line, baring pointed teeth, an almost wild look in his eyes.

"Koromon's right!" said Motimon, raising curled fists. "It's time we showed what we're made of!"

"They're right!" Yokomon cried.

"No they're not!" Sora snapped, pulling Yokomon into a bear hug as she lurched forward. "It's useless. You'll be no match for him."

As she spoke, Kuwagumon burst from the canopy and hovered high above them. The insect began to descend, mandibles clacking horribly. Tai caught movement just at the edge of his eye line. He looked down and saw T.K. dive to keep hold of Tokomon. The small Digimon was struggling to get free of T.K.'s grip, opening his jaws wide in an attempt to bite off T.K.

"We can beat him!" growled Tokomon.

"No we can't," T.K. snarled in response.

"Digimon attack!" cried Koromon.

Tai looked down as his new friend launched himself toward Kuwagumon as the larger creature landed. Almost immediately after Koromon's cry every other partner launched themselves toward Kuwagumon, breaking out of their master's grasps.

"Koromon!" Tai cried, rushing forward after him. "Come back!"

For a moment, time seemed to stand still. The group of attacking, alien creature suspended, frozen, and the group of humans, looking on in frozen terror.

And then all seven creatures glowed. Tai looked on in amazement as their new friends began to change. His focus however was on Koromon. His new guardian's skin changed from fleshy pink to yellow ochre. His red eyes became an acid green. His body stretched and changed. Arms and legs grew where previously there had been nothing. At the end of each limb were three fingers, each tipped with a razor sharp talon. His face stretched, becoming a long snout with small slits for nostrils. Pointed fangs jutted from his mouth at regular intervals. His long floppy ears shrank back into his skull, becoming small nubs on the back of his cranium. A short stumpy tail grew out just above his legs.

When Koromon began the change he was no higher than Tai's knee. Now he was just above waist height. And that was just the start.

On Koromon's right, where Motimon had stood was another insectoid creature with a shell of maroon, with grey spikes emerging from his back. His skin was green underneath and his eyes were a bulbous green, two orange antennas emerging from just above the eyes. From his torso four red and grey appendages emerged. The upper pair were long and slightly bulky, tipped with a single grey claw. The lower pair were more spindly and had a mass of grey finger like digits. His legs were like his upper arms, but instead of a single claw, there were four talons arranged around each foot.

On Koromon's other side where Yokomon had been was a strange bird like creature. Her feathers were a pleasant pink but her wings were strange in that they were also like arms. Each one was tipped with three red claws. Her feet were a pale yellow, again each tipped with three red talons. Around her left ankle was a metal ring. Her head was bulbous and she had a beak the same colour as her talons. Her eyes were a bright blue and tail and head feathers were trimmed with a deeper shade of blue.

Where Tsunomon had been on Motimon's right there was a strange wolf-like creature. His skin was a bright yellow, but over that was a coat of blue fur with darker stripes. On his stomach was a patch of some strange blue armour, marked with purple symbols. Where the curved blade had been there was now a single yellow horn, reminiscent to that of a unicorn's. Down his sides were two long strips of fur that ended in three curved claws, exact replicas covering his arms.

On Yokomon's left, where Tanemon had been, a taller, bipedal plant creature stood. His skin was green and root like veins could be seen running up her arms and legs. At the end of her arms where hands should be, short purple and green wines grew out, five on each limb, like fingers. Her eyes were a pleasant green and on top of her head was a four leafed brilliant pink flower.

Where there had once been Tokomon was a similar creature, still small and still a quadruped. However instead of being entirely snow white this new creature had a brown back and face. His eyes were a light blue and for ears, large bat-like wings emerged from the back of his head.

The last new creature took the place of Bukamon. Where there had once been a seal-like creature there was now a white quadruped. Its body was low to the ground and each of its four paws were tipped with three black claws. Its eyes were now a light green and along its head was a Mohawk of flaming orange hair. All over the creature's body were purple markings.

Tai took a step back at the sight of the change that had become of their new friends. All of them looked stronger, more powerful. More monstrous.

"Look at them," Sora gasped. "Wh-what happened to the little guys?"

Tai blinked dumbly. "They're… bigger," he said rather simply.

The group of monsters leapt at Kuwagumon, crying out various battle cries as they latched themselves onto the creature. Kuwagumon roared and swatted them aside, scattering the various creatures across the cliff top.

The creature that had once been Koromon was the first to recover, getting to his feet to stare fixedly at Kuwagumon.

"Alright you asked for it!" he declared as he comrades struggled to their feet.

Kuwagumon spread his wings in response, the low buzzing filling the air. The plant creature rushed to him as he began to take off. She raised her arms in the air and smiled.

"Poison Ivy!" she cried, flicking her hands. Her vinery fingers extended and wrapped around Kuwagumon's leg.

Kuwagumon roared as it tried to tug off the small creature's grip. 'Tanemon' grimaced and began to pull Kuwagumon down with strength seemingly impossible for a creature her size. Kuwagumon roared and pulled harder. As he did so 'Tokomon' flew up and around his head.

"Boom Bubble!" he yelled. He stomach inflated and his cheeks ballooned out. Just when the creature seemed ready to burst, he exhaled in a rapid, sharp blast. A shockwave of displaced air ricocheted at the back of Kuwagumon's head. Kuwagumon roared as he head was thrown forward. Tanemon snarled and pulled, Kuwagumon coming closer to the ground. 'Motimon' flew up to the same altitude as Tokomon, the smaller insect hovering for a few moments before he struck.

"Super Shocker!" he declared. For a moment there was silence, before a bolt of orange lightning sparked from Motimon's antenna and struck Kuwagumon's face. The larger insect cried out and Tanemon pulled him back onto the ground. As she did so, 'Bukamon' dashed forwards. As Kuwagumon landed, he rolled and took Kuwagumon's foot out from under him. Kuwagumon roared as he fell to one knee, and Koromon stepped forward.

"Stand back everyone," Koromon warned. "Pepper Breath!" The dinosaur spat a ball of red and yellow flames at Kuwagumon. The insect roared as the flames rocked him backwards.

'Tsunomon' ran forwards, 'Yokomon' taking flight, neither creature giving Kuwagumon time to recover.

"Blue Blaster!" cried Tsunomon. He opened his mouth to allow a burst of blue fire to fly from his throat.

"Spiral Twister!" crowed Yokomon, a spiral of green flames generating from nowhere and flying toward Kuwagumon.

The larger creature roared and got to his feet, enraged beyond belief. The group of smaller monsters gathered together, unconcerned with Kuwagumon's wrath.

"All together!" Koromon declared. Tanemon and Bukamon stepped back as the other five prepared themselves to attack.

Kuwagumon took a step and the small band of creatures let loose their assaults. Kuwagumon roared once more, before falling silent. He stood there for a few moments, before he began falling backwards. The group of humans watched as Kuwagumon fell to the ground with a mighty crash.

"They completely devastated him," Izzy breathed, shocked and amazed.

"Incredible," Tai stated, just as impressed.

Koromon was the first to turn and face the humans.

"Told we could do it!" he laughed victorious.

"Try telling him that!" cried Mimi. Tai lifted his gaze from Koromon to see Kuwagumon stand back up. Koromon and the other turned just as Kuwagumon lashed out with a vicious backhand.

The assembled creatures landed in a heap in front of Tai and the others, the seemingly triumphant moment shattered. Kuwagumon stepped forward and lowered his head. In a flash his mandibles were embedded in the cliff that they stood on. For a moment there was a horrible silence, then, a crack sounded like a gunshot. The outcrop tilted and lowered, to moorings to the rest of the cliff failing.

"I'm sorry Tai," Koromon groaned.

And then the rock gave way. Humans and monsters alike let out collective screams and the ground beneath their feet fell away from them and they began to plunge down to the river bellow.

_**To be continued…**_

_**But if you've seen the show then it's not that much of a cliff hanger huh?**_


	2. The Birth of Greymon

**Digimon Adventure**

**X**

**Chapter Two: The Birth of Greymon**

Tai's world was flashing past him as he plummeted down to the river below. 'Koromon' was nearby looking positively petrified. Tai glanced above him and saw 'Motimon', 'Yokomon' and 'Tokomon' swoop down and grab their respective partners. However the weight of their partners proved too mush for the small creatures and the vertical descent continued.

'Tanemon' grabbed Mimi and lashed out her vine fingers onto the cliff face. For a moment Tai thought they would make it. Then, Tanemon slammed into the rock face. Her gip was lost and she and Mimi began to fall once more.

Tai heard a splash below and a voice crying out something unintelligible (A/N: I really don't know what Gommamon shouts out here.) And then Tai landed.

For a moment he wasn't sure of what happened. He had landed on something solid so it wasn't water, but it had bounced under him so it wasn't the ground. And it also appeared to be moving.

Tai looked down and saw that he was lying on a makeshift raft of fish. The small creatures were swimming in synchrony taking them down the river. As he looked he saw that everyone had landed on it safely. However Joe was the only one that appeared to be severely wet.

"Wow," Tai said still unable to take in what was happening. "This is some ride."

High above them there came a terrible and familiar roar. The group looked up. Kuwagumon was glowering at them from the cliff high above them. As soon as Tai had done so, he was overcome by a deep throbbing feeling of exhaustion.

"What?" Tai heard Matt mutter. Then Tai saw why. Cracks were forming underneath Kuwagumon's feet. "Look out!" Matt cried.

The rocks beneath Kuwagumon gave wave and the creature fell. Kuwagumon roared once more, trying desperately to right himself in the air and fly away.

"GO!" roared a voice at the head of the raff. Tai twisted around to see 'Bukamon' sitting there, seemingly directing the fish. As if reacting to his cry the fish swam faster. The make shift raft moved down the speeding waters away from the falling boulders.

Tai looked back around to see the rock-fall and Kuwagumon plunge into the river, water spewing up everywhere. Tai watched as a wave of water rolled towards them. He took a few deep breaths, before the towering mass of water fell down onto them. For the second time that day, Tai was lost in a sea of silver bubbles.

Tai rolled over and over in the water, the fish raft long since gone from under him. Tai struggled hold his breath. A few times he caught glimpses of his friends. Some were trying to swim with different strokes, others were flailing about madly and everyone else was just idly floating in the slipstream.

Tai couldn't hold it anymore and instinctively took a breath, swallowing water instead of oxygen. Before he could begin to start retching, he was thrown roughly from the watery world of darkness and unceremoniously onto hard ground.

He lay there for a moment, coughing up water onto mud below him. The sounds of pained groans around him signalled that he wasn't the only one who had landed here.

He pushed himself up from the ground off of the wet soil and looked around. After a quick head count he sighed with relief that they were all still together in a group.

Tai watched as Matt stood up and looked around. He smirked and rubbed his nose.

"I wasn't worried," he said confidently. "I knew we'd be okay."

"Well when I checked you were screaming the loudest Matt," Izzy sniggered and he got to his feet, quickly checking the working order of his laptop.

Matt grunted and turned away. Joe sat up and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"What was that we were just on?" he asked. "A floating fish market?"

"Lucky for us those fish were having a school reunion," chuckled Bukamon. Joe looked up slightly shocked at Bukamon's cavalier attitude. "I'm kidding," Bukamon assured, "Those fish are really good friends of mine and I just asked them for a lift."

"And all these years I thought I was allergic to seafood," Joe said chuckling. "Thank you, uh, I'm guessing it's not Bukamon?"

The creature shook his head before smiling and wagging his tail. "It's Gommamon now."

"Gommamon," Joe repeated. "Right."

"Just what are you anyway?" Mimi asked, looking at the bipedal plant before her.

"We're Digimon," answered the dinosaur creature in front of Tai.

"Also known as Digital Monsters," continued the bug that stood by Izzy.

"Digital… Monsters?" Sora repeated.

"Yep," said Yokomon in assurance.

"So you're Digimon," Tai said slowly. "But what happened? Why are you all so…?"

He waved his hands around his partners' head.

"This?" he said in response. "This is all because we digivolved."

"Digivolved?" Tai repeated. "I don' think that's in my dictionary."

"So this 'digivolving' is what happens when they ascend to the next level and become stronger than they were before," Izzy rationalized.

"Right," confirmed his partner. "All of us digivolved. Myself digivolving from Motimon to Tentomon."

"I digivolved from Yokomon to Biyomon," chimed in the pink bird beside Sora.

"First I was Tsunomon," announced the blue wolf-like creature, "Then Gabumon."

"Before I was Tokomon, but now it's Patamon," explained the small creature with wing-ears.

"And I changed from Tanemon to Palmon," cried the plant merrily.

"And me I was Koromon," said Tai's partner, pointing at himself. "I digivolved into Agumon."

"Ok," Tai said sitting down on a tree stump. "When you digivolved you certainly got way bigger."

"It wasn't easy," Agumon replied. "I needed your help to do it Tai."

"My help? For what?"

"You see digivolving is a very difficult process," Agumon explained. "In order to be successful, I had to share your energy."

"Really?"

Sora knelt down beside Biyomon. "I guess you guys don't run on batteries?"

"Sure don't" Biyomon chirped.

"But how do you access me energy?" Izzy asked Tentomon.

"Even we don't know everything," Tentomon replied.

"So we help you guys change?" T.K. asked hands held behind his head and looking at Patamon. "That's so cool!"

"Yep," Patamon replied. "Sure is."

"Ok, now that's been explained," Matt sighed. "What are we going to do now?

"If only we had a pay phone," Joe said hand on chin thinking. "We could call the police, or the fire department or our parents."

"But we don't even know where we are," Tai pointed out.

"Well we know where we started," Sora said turned around to look at the broken cliff edge just visible in the distance.

"I say we forget about going back and think about exploring around here," Matt said.

"I don't think we should explore anywhere," Joe said. "I say we stay right where we are."

"Yeah," Matt said slowly in mock agreement. "Let's stay put and wait for that giant bug to come get us. We need to find a road leading some place and get away from here."

"Matt's right," Izzy agreed. "But, without a compass we don't even know which way is North."

"Wait I do," Tentomon said.

"Really?" Izzy asked hopefully. "Well which way is it?"

"It's the opposite of South," Tentomon said simply. Izzy's face fell.

"You know if we could get back to where we were we might find some clues as to where we are and why we're here in this place," Sora said.

"Wait, are there more monsters around like that big flying beetle?" Mimi asked, looking rather horrified at the thought.

"Yes-indeedy," Palmon said happily, oblivious to Mimi's obvious distaste to such creatures.

"Those monsters don't scare me," Matt said cockily.

"Are there humans here?" Tai asked Agumon.

"Hu-mans?" Agumon said slowly, the word sounding strange coming from him. "You mean others like you?" Tai nodded. "You're the first ever," Agumon explained. "There's never been anything but Digimon."

"Ok," Tai said, digesting the fact that they were the only humans on the island. "So you're all Digimon. But, what about these monsters? Are they all Digimon too?"

"It's creepy," Sora muttered. "And dangerous, and what happened when it gets dark?"

"Who says it ever gets dark here?" Matt asked.

"That phenomenon would be unnatural," Izzy stated.

"And _this_ is natural?" Joe asked sceptically.

"Well, we're not going to solve anything by sitting around here," Tai said, turned on the spot and walking over to the river bank.

"Where'd you think you're going?" Matt asked.

"I'm gonna follow the river," Tai explained. "Up on that cliff I saw the ocean so I figure the best way to get there is to follow the river."

"The ocean?" Matt said, a little unsure.

"Yep," Tai confirmed. "There might be a boat or something."

"Yeah lets water ski home," Matt said sarcastically.

"Funny," Sora muttered, "But Tai has a point. I'm going with him."

"I was joking," Matt said, following Sora and Tai, most of the group following in tow. Most.

"At I time like this I think that it's far better off to find a cave and hide," Joe said, oblivious to the fact that he was being left behind. "If we keep our eyes open and when a camp counsellor comes-"

"Hey Joe!" Gommamon interrupted. "Everyone's leaving us!"

Joe looked up at this and ran after the group, waving and calling for them to wait up.

(X)

"So Patamon," T.K. said as the group made their way down the river bank. "Can you actually fly with those?"

He indicated Patamon's wings. Patamon looked at him, smirked and lifted his nose to the sky.

"Of course," he said, sounding slightly insulted. He bent his short legs and leapt into the air, his wing-ears beating evenly. He screwed up his face in an effort to fly higher.

"Hey that's pretty cool," T.K. said smiling. "But you're going the wrong way."

Patamon opened an eye and saw that he was indeed flying slower than T.K. was walking. Biyomon sniggered as she and Sora passed him.

"I'm faster than that," she boasted, taking flight herself. Her larger wingspan provided more height Patamon realized with disdain, but not more speed. Sora looked back at the pair who were struggling to stay in the air and sighed.

"Wouldn't it be faster to walk? Huh?" she asked.

Further back along the group, Izzy was talking with Tentomon.

"Digital Monsters?" he asked avidly. "Exactly who came up with that?"

"We prefer to be called Digimon," Tentomon stated.

"That doesn't exactly answer my question," Izzy stated. "Who came up with the name Digital Monsters?"

Tentomon buzzed indignantly and sparked a few lightning bolts from his antenna. Izzy raised his arm to protect his face, crying out his displeasure. Tentomon stopped the sparks and Izzy heard Tai's voice float down the line.

"When we get back this'll make one neat story," he said to Agumon who was walking beside him at the front of the group, "Of course no one will ever believe me."

"Everyone in the water!" cried Gommamon. Tai looked back and saw the quadruped dive from the river bank into the water. A few seconds later he emerged from its depths, his orange hair plastered to his scalp.

Tai smiled and shook his head, already labelling out Gommamon as the clown of this band of Digital Monsters. He took a deep breath in through his nose and found that it was laced heavily with the scent of salty water.

"Nothing like the ocean smell," said a voice beside him. Tai looked down and saw that Gabumon had joined him and Agumon at the front.

"Guess we're nearly there," Matt said, catching up with his partner.

Tai nodded in agreement as the rest of the group moved passed them.

"Where do you think we are Matt?" he asked suddenly. Matt looked at him surprised but then began to mull the question over.

"Not on Earth that's for sure," Matt said at last, when the pair began to walk again and catch up with their lagging partners.

"Damn right we're not on Earth," Tai confirmed.

The pair walked on in silence for a few minutes before they caught up with the rest of the group. The group was standing in silence, still. Some of them had their ears cocked upstream.

Tai knew better than to ask what they were doing, as it was obvious that they were listening for something. Instead he stood still and strained his hearing. In the distance there came a high pitched ringing sound. It sounded vaguely familiar to Tai but it took him a moment to place it.

"A phone," he breathed. They stood in silence for a few moments before running towards the sound.

"You see what I mean?" Joes panted as the earth beneath their feat became sandy dunes. "All we need is a phone! We're saved!"

Tai didn't reply, instead leaning forward to gain extra momentum. The sand sloped up and down, more like a desert than a beach. Tai attempted to climb a particularly steep dune. He slid down it for a few seconds before driving his heels into the shifting sands and climbing to the top. At the crest Tai paused to catch his breath and wait for the others. He looked out over the beach.

Below him powdery white sands spread out at the base of the dune. Further out was a line of damp sand where sand and sea met frequently. But before that, inland by about five yards or so, was a line of phone boxes, seemingly brand new, their glass panes gleaming in the sunlight.

From the one nearest to Tai came the harsh sound of a telephone chime. Tai stood still for a moment as the group caught up to him. Like him, they were all exhausted from climbing the sand dune. Sora, an athlete like Tai, was the first to recover from the strain.

"Why'd you stop?" she asked.

"It's a payphone," Tai said simply.

"So?" panted Matt. Tai looked at Izzy before replying.

"Izzy is it possible to ring a payphone?" he asked.

Izzy raised a finger from his bent double position, sucking in great a lungful of air. His breathing then became shallower until he finally straightened up.

"Well," he said, breathing slightly heavy. "It is possible to learn the number of a payphone from your local communications officer. But on an island? I've never heard of a payphone on this sort of place."

"Hmm," Tai responded.

"What're you thinking Tai?" Agumon asked.

"I don't think that this is legit," Tai said at last.

"You think it's a trap?" Matt asked, immediately on guard.

"I'm saying that it's a possibility," Tai rephrased.

"Oh you're just being paranoid," Joe said, sliding down the dune.

"Wait Joe!" Tai called as Joe began to stride with vehemence toward the ringing phone box. "This isn't home! Everything could be completely different here!"

Joe waved this comment aside, Gommamon now at his heels. Tai growled and began to slide down the sand dune himself. The rest of the team followed after a brief moment, Mimi complaining that there was sand in her shoes.

"Joe!" Tai cried running after the blue-haired boy. By this time Joe had reached the box and was reaching for the door-handle. Tai redoubled his efforts to catch Joe, only just too late.

Joe pulled open the door as Tai reached him. Tai blanched expecting some sort of explosion or something else to happen. Instead, the phone simply stopped ringing.

"Why'd it stop Joe?" Gommamon asked.

"Wrong number?" Joe suggested. Joe looked at Tai and gave a slightly cocky smile. "See? Paranoid."

Tai resisted the urge to hit Joe.

"Well that was weird," Sora muttered.

"My theory is aliens," Izzy stated casually. "They've set these phone booths out as a trap."

"Man you need to get your head out of the sci-fi," T.K. smirked. He looked away from Izzy and back to the phone booths. "If we can find a place that delivers let's order pizza."

"Whatever you get no anchovies for me," Mimi said, making a face as she said the name of the fish.

"Anyway!" Tai said loudly. "The question is what are these doing here?"

"So students like us can call their parents for a ride home," Joe said as if he were stating the obvious.

"Par-ents?" Gommamon spoke. "What is exactly is a par-ent?"

Joe looked at Gommamon. Then he turned back to the phone booths.

"That's it," he said blandly. "I'm outta' here."

He stepped into the booth and picked up the receiver.

"Does anyone have any loose change?" he asked, holding out his hand.

"Why?" Tai asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Obviously I'm gonna' make a phone call and get us off of this crazy island," Joe said, raising his voice throughout the sentence making him sound a little bit crazy.

"Well you could use this," Izzy said pulling out a small plastic card. "It's my phone card. The aliens can bill me."

In the background T.K. chuckled. He looked away down the line of phone booths and bit his lip.

"Maybe there's a quarter in one of the slots," he suggested.

"I'm calling Daddy!" Mimi cried rushing down the line to pick a booth.

"Dibs on booth four!" Sora called running after her, T.K. dashing after them both. Tai sighed and walked away from the lunatics. Matt slouched over and joined him as the pair and their partners lay down on the sand. Tai yawned and watched as Izzy and Tentomon walked into their own booth.

Tai sighed and closed his eyes. He really felt tired for some reason. He didn't know what it was but hoped that it wasn't anything serious. But then again, in this world anything could be possible. Here and there he heard snatches of people talking.

"What planet did I die on?"

"I'm tellin' you. It's a twisted alien joke."

"Either Daddy's sick or he's flipped."

"Why don't we try that one over there?"

"Maybe this one will?"

"I don't think it's any better."

"What do you wear for that kind of weather?"

"Very curious."

Tai opened his eyes as he heard Izzy speak from right beside him. Most of the team was now sitting down in the sand nearby. Most. Joe was standing in one of the booths, still trying to dial out.

"Does Joe always behave like this?" Izzy asked the group at large.

"Every single day," Sora answered.

"No matter what number or how many times he dials those phones won't connect," Matt said.

"I guess we have nothing to do except sit here," T.K. said leaning back.

"Is anyone else hungry?" Mimi asked.

"I think all of us are," Izzy muttered.

"You know why?" Tai said sitting up. "None of us have eaten a thing since we left camp."

"Well does anyone have any food?" Sora asked reaching round her back. "I think that the only stuff I have is-"

She paused before pulling whatever she had found out and showed it to the rest of the group. In her palm she held a small blue device. It took Tai a moment to recognise that it was the same device that she had grabbed at camp.

"It's that gadget that fell out of sky," she said looking at it.

Tai looked stuffed his hands into his pockets and not finding anything patted his back pockets. There, he felt something small and chunky clipped into one of his belt loops. He grabbed and brought it into his sightline. Sure enough, resting in his palm was the same device.

"I'd forgotten all about these," Tai muttered. He looked up to see that the group had each pulled out their respective devices.

"If anyone has a pink one I'll trade," Mimi chirped, beaming.

"What are they anyway?" T.K. asked.

"Well I know we wouldn't have them if they weren't important," Matt reasoned.

"If I could take mine apart," Izzy muttered to himself. His stomach rumbled and he blushed. "Well, that is after I've had something to eat, I'm really famished."

"Well the only thing I have is my emergency supplies," Sora said laying a few things on the ground. "It's got a first aid kit some bandages and some medicine but that's about it. Anyone else got anything?"

"I have my trusty laptop computer," Izzy said, laying the device on the ground. "And a digital camera. Oh and I've got a small cell phone too." He frowned at each device. "Of course none of them have worked since we got here."

"I can't believe you dragged all that computer stuff to summer camp," Tai sniggered.

"And _you_ have?" Izzy snapped.

"Well," Tai said reaching into his pocket. "All I've got is my mini telescope."

"Sorry guys but I don't have any food either," Matt said.

"At least one us is prepared eh Matt?" T.K. said, slinging his back pack of his shoulders.

He opened the article and turned it upside down, pouring the contents onto the sand. A small mound of sweets and packets of crisps had piled up by the time T.K. put the empty bag on the ground. Mimi leaned forward eyeing the collection.

"Wow!" she exclaimed. "Look at all those goodies!"

Tai wrinkled his nose and turned his head away from the pile of calories.

"Sorry but I'll pass T.K." he said. "That sort of food isn't part of my diet."

"Mine neither," Sora agreed. She looked at Mimi, the only member of the group who hadn't contributed.

"Mimi what have you got in that bag?" she asked, "Some hairbrushes and makeup?"

"Uh, well I'll take a look," Mimi replied, setting her bag down and began pulling out various items. "Well I've got a compass, lighter fuel, a flashlight (AN: that's a torch if you're English, like me), one of those knives with all the stuff you don't need and some other stuff."

"Wait you had a compass?" Tai asked picking up the small device.

"Why didn't you tell you had one when we needed one?" Matt asked.

"I guess I just forgot about it," Mimi said, trying her best to look innocent.

"Wouldn't have made a difference Matt," Tai sighed through the compass on the ground. "The thing's outta' whack."

"Well so much for finding our way outta' here," T.K. muttered dejectedly.

"We're on an island a compass wouldn't have helped much," Izzy pointed out.

"Although we could use the fuel to make a signal fire," Matt suggested.

"True," Sora commented. "Or we could barbecue some telephones."

"Speaking of which," Tai said looking over to Joe. "What's the bet he's ringing the telephone network to complain about the service?"

"I'd say about one thousand nine hundred and fifty Yen," Izzy chuckled (AN: that's twenty five U.S. dollars).

"If only he saw the flaw in his plan," Sora sniggered.

"What's Joe got over his shoulder?" Matt asked frowning.

"Looks like a bag," Tai said.

"No way," Izzy said standing up looking aghast. "Joe's got the emergency food!"

"What?" Tai asked, straining his eyes to look at the bag Joe had slung over his shoulder. Sure enough it was marked with a large red cross just over the word 'EMERGENCY'.

"Joe!" Tai called. "Hey Joe! You've got all the food!"

Joe turned and scowled at Tai. "Don't you know it's rude to yell at someone while they're on the telephone?"

"But the bag!" Izzy called.

"This?" Joe said, nodding at the bag. "I'm just carrying it for Mimi, today was _her_ day to carry the bag!"

"I think he likes ya'!" Palmon smirked to Mimi. Mimi looked repulsed at the idea. Joe hung up the phone and strode over to the group.

"I'm glad to see that you're all working on trying to get us out of here!" Joe snapped.

"The difference between you and us Joe is that we know when to quit using phones that refuse to work properly," Matt pointed out.

Joe opened his mouth like he was about to argue but Tai quickly intervened; "Guys, calm down. Right now what's important is to get something to eat. Then we can figure out a way to get off of this island."

Joe looked at Tai, then scowled at Matt, before he sat down cross legged. Joe then pulled the bag off and set it down in front of him.

"Ok," Joe said as he examined the guide on the bag. "There are seven of us here so that's seven portions for one meal; times three meals a day that's twenty one meals. There's only enough food here for seventy meals so…"

"We have enough food for three days plus one meal on the side," Izzy calculated. "However Joe you forgot to factor in the Digimon."

"Yeah, when you factor them in have enough for maybe half an hour," Sora said.

"One day and two meals," Izzy informed.

"You don't need to include us in your calculations," Tentomon buzzed.

"We Digimon hunt and forage for ourselves," Gabumon elaborated.

"You sure Gabumon?" Matt asked. He nodded.

"Well then now that that's settled-" Joe began but Tai cut across him.

"I think they still need something to eat now," he said. "Who knows what prolonged hunger can do to them and there abilities."

Some of the group were nodding but Joe looked at him.

"Tai they just said they're ok with this," he said.

"And what happens if they can't find something to eat?" Tai asked. "What if the won't be able to protect us while they're half starved?"

"Alright geez," Joe replied, as he began to share out the food. Tai felt a nudge in his ribs and looked to see Sora smiling.

"That was a nice thing you did," she said beaming.

"I'm just thinking in the long term," he said smiling back, accepting his food from Joe as he did so.

Agumon took his food from Joe and looked at the small potion of the emergency supplies. Tai chuckled at his confusion and began to demonstrate what to do with the food.

There was little talk for about five minutes as the food was slowly but surely eaten. For humans and Digimon alike it was a welcome feeling to be fed once more. After everyone was feeling nourished talk began of what they were to do.

"Well I think the best thing we can do is to get back to the forest," Joe suggested.

"Easier said than done," Sora said.

"She's right," Izzy agreed. "We fell off a cliff and came a long way down stream in order to get here. Getting back is going to be more than trying."

"So going back is one option," Tai listed. "It's not the smartest move but it's there for debate. Anyone else got anything to suggest?"

"Stay here," Mimi said. "We could wait until someone calls here."

"She has got a point Tai," Matt said. "If someone does call and we stay here then we can answer it and get some help."

"Staying here, another option," Tai listed. "Anything else?"

"We could continue to search the beach," Sora said. "We could maybe find a boat and then maybe the person who owns it."

"There is the option of exploration," Izzy said. "We could get to know the island better while we're here. That way we'd know where to get food and water and which places to go to in order to avoid any unfriendly Digimon we find."

"That's a cool plan," Tai said smiling. "Get to know the lay of the land? Sounds good."

"I think the only way to decide what we do is to have a vote," Joe said stubbornly.

"I was about to suggest the same thing," Izzy said in response.

"Well let's put it to a vote then," T.K. said leaning forward. "I'm getting sick of doing nothing."

Tai nodded, then frowned. Had it been his imagination or had the ground shifted slightly? Biyomon stood up and turned to face a point in the distance.

"What is it Biyomon?" Sora asked her partner.

"Trouble," she replied simply.

No soon had she said that single word, a geyser spouted from directly underneath one of the phone booths and sent it flying into the air. The group was on their feet as one and backing away from the water spout as the phone booth crashed back onto the sand, a mangled mess of pulverised metal and shattered glass.

More geysers spouted up from underneath the rest of the phone booths in a domino effect, erupting one after another. A fine spray of water rained down on the group who were backing away more swiftly now. More phone booths rained from the sky shards of glass flying everywhere. A booth landed within spitting distance of the team.

'Too close for comfort,' Tai thought, wishing he could protect his friends. Within the centre of an impromptu ring of destroyed booths rose something from underneath the sand. A cone-like object that pushed its way upwards towards the sky. After a few minutes the sand broke and the top of the object was revealed.

It was the top of a conical shell, with four fins pointed toward the sky arranged in a cross. The sand began to pour down the shell as more and more of it was revealed. When it finally stopped moving the shell towered above the group, as tall as a house, and just as wide at its base.

"What is that thing?" Joe yelled.

"Shellmon," Tentomon replied.

"What's a Shellmon?" Izzy cried.

"Something that gets mad for no reason."

From within the shell there two great arms with three stubby fingers. After the arms came the torso they were attached to. Its was vaguely human until you reached the head, looking more like it belonged to a dinosaur, it's body comprised of squidgy pink flesh. Ridges of hardened flesh that might have served as teeth were arranged around the creatures roaring mouth. From the top of its head sprouted a mop of thick green rubbers tentacles that served as hair.

"Attacked by two Digital Monsters in the same day," Joe muttered. "Can we _be_ any more unlucky?"

"Digimon attack!" Agumon cried. All seven Digimon rushed out to protect their partner. Palmon rushed to Shellmon's side and threw her arms into the air.

"Poison Ivy!" Her vines snapped out and wrapped around Shellmon's neck. The larger Digimon roared and pulled his head sharply. Palmon was flung into the air. She cried out as her vines slipped off of Shellmon's neck. She crashed back down to Earth and onto Gommamon's back.

"Super Shocker!" Tentomon cried. The bolt of lightning struck Shellmon just below the eye. Shellmon roared and tilted his head to Tentomon. A jet of water flew from the top of his head and struck Tentomon. Tentomon's cry was lost in the roar of the water as he crashed in mid-air with Patamon. The two Digimon rolled to a groaning soggy heap and Shellmon turned his attention to the three remaining Digimon.

Biyomon took to the air, her blue eyes locked onto Shellmon's. "Spiral Twister!" she cried, a spiral of green fire coiling toward Shellmon. The attack struck his fleshy torso and he roared in discomfort before lashing out with a strand of his thick rubbery hair. The tentacle knocked the wind out of Biyomon and sent her sprawling in the sand.

Agumon and Gabumon looked at each other, the only two Digimon standing. Then they looked back at Shellmon.

"Pepper Breath!" Agumon cried, the sphere of fire hitting Shellmon on the chin. Shellmon bucked his head back and glowered at Agumon. Gabumon attempted to fire off his own attack but Shellmon sent another spurt of water into his chest, sending him sprawling.

Tai couldn't stand by and watch any more. He sprinted out from the team, ignoring their cries of alarm and their calls for him to return. He bent down and picked up a slightly bent and twisted metal bar, part of the mangled phone box it had belonged to. It felt heavy and clumsy in Tai's hands but he gripped it and ran straight up to Shellmon, despite Agumon's warnings to stay back.

Tai struck Shellmon's shell rapidly, not caring if he did any damage or not. All he wanted was the time to distract Shellmon, to allow his friends to escape. Shellmon growled and turned his head to look at Tai. Tai returned the dark look and raised the bar once more to strike.

Shellmon grunted and a tentacle lashed out and wrapped itself around Tai, pressing his arms to his waist, forcing him to drop the bar. He gasped as all the air was crushed from his lungs. His breaths became shallower and shallower as Shellmon tightened his grip. Shellmon lifted him high into the air, ignoring the cries of the other humans.

Tai was vaguely aware of Agumon firing off flaming attacks at Shellmon. Shellmon growled and raised one fleshy foot. Agumon backed off slightly, before Shellmon brought the foot down, squashing Agumon's torso beneath it. Agumon cried out in pain before glowering at Shellmon.

"Agumon…" Tai breathed, white spots beginning to dance in front of his eyes.

And then Tai felt a certain, buzz. It started from deep within his chest. It spread outwards, like it was trying to force its way to the surface. The feeling spread until his whole body was filled with it. Tai found that he could breath slightly easier now. The white lights started to fade and his vision was returning. And then suddenly, the buzz Tai had felt left. Tai felt drained all of a sudden, like he had run ten kilometres without stopping.

Shellmon yelped in shock and his grip on Tai loosened. Tai still felt drained but now he was getting whole breaths into his lungs and he could even move to an extent. He became aware of a vibrating in his belt loop just as a bright light from below him. Tai squinted and turned his head away from it. When it faded Tai tuned his head.

At first he didn't see anything different, and then he saw Agumon shivering. His eyes were drawn to his partner as he saw the same bright light from before throbbing underneath the surface of his skin. His eyes shifted from green, to faded red. Then Agumon began to grow rapidly.

His skin became a dirty orange, and blue stripes appeared along his body. An armoured bone construct similar to a helmet grew onto Agumon's cranium and his eyes became faded red fixedly. He pushed Shellmon off of him and got to his feet, his tail whipping the air, much longer than before. And still he grew, horns now appearing on his bone armour, one above the nose, and one over each ear.

By the time Shellmon turned to face him again, 'Agumon' was taller than he was. Shellmon grunted and Tai heard him growl a single word: "Greymon."

'He Digivolved again,' Tai thought to himself, 'Now he's Greymon.'

Shellmon brought Tai to his face before casting him aside. Tai hit the ground and rolled, his hard earned oxygen forced from his lungs. He lifted his arm and pushed himself into a kneeling position. Shellmon was charging toward Greymon, forcing his head toward the larger Digimon's chest.

Greymon chuckled, his voice deeper and more Guttural than Agumon's. Greymon thrust his arm's out and clamped them onto Shellmon's shoulders. He locked his legs and began to push the other Digimon back, his greater weight and strength forcing Shellmon down the beach.

Shellmon grunted the tilted his head again. Greymon knew what he was planning and opened his mouth, letting out a great torrent of flames as Shellmon released a spout of water from the top of his head. The two attacks met with a thick cloud of stream. Greymon didn't seem like he could run out of fire, whereas Shellmon's water supply seemed to run low, the spout of water get thinner and less powerful.

Greymon then closed his mouth and ducked the last of Shellmon's water and gripped the Digimon's shell. He grunted and with a monumental effort lifted Shellmon above his head. Shellmon cried out in shock and began to flail in the air. Greymon grunted let out a breath then threw Shellmon out to sea. Shellmon cried out as he flew in a high arc. Greymon roared then opened his mouth.

"Nova Blast!" he thundered. A blast of white flames burst from somewhere deep in Greymon's throat. The attack screamed through the sky and struck Shellmon, adding to his skyward momentum. Shellmon quickly faded to a dot on the horizon, a trail of smoke coiling in his wake.

Tai's eyes widened at the seemingly unstoppable force that his Digimon seemed to have transformed into. He pushed himself to his feet, feeling slightly less empty. He walked uncertainly towards Greymon. Greymon turned towards Tai and he swore he could see the Digimon smile.

Greymon glowed brightly, all details lost in the brightness of the light. Tai shielded his eyes, the glow shrinking in size and brightness rapidly. Tai turned to look as the light faded completely as he saw Agumon standing where Greymon had been moments before.

"You ok Tai?" Agumon asked rushing to Tai's side.

"Just a little tired," Tai murmured. "I'll be fine."

_A lone Digimon stood at the top of a sandy dun. He chuckled, much like Muttly from the old cartoons. This group of humans was both amusing and troubling. There was no doubt in his mind that his master would want to know about this. He sat for a moment, his canine form thin and covered in red fur. His back paw reached up to scratch his ear, before he stood up once more and loped off back toward the centre of the island._

Tai had been given the once over by Joe who had proclaimed that there was nothing wrong with him other than slight fatigue. They sat around again in a circle, waiting for someone to speak. Eventually Izzy decided to break the silence.

"I don't believe that Shellmon was destroyed," he said. "He was just temporarily removed. We should leave before he comes back for round two."

"Well we were going to have a vote before we were interrupted," Sora said. "Staying here is out now though."

"I wouldn't recommend returning to the forest either," Joe said. "Giving Tai's condition."

"I'm fine," Tai protested, stifling a yawn.

"I think we all want to explore the island a little more," Matt said. The gathered group nodded in agreement with Matt.

"Looks like the decisions unanimous," Izzy said.

"Then let's get moving," Tai said getting stiffly to his feet.

"Anywhere you go I'll go Tai," Agumon said getting to his feet as well. "Just choose a direction."

"Well going back is pointless," T.K. said as the rest of the group stood up. "I say we go that way." He pointed further along the beach, the group voicing their agreements.

"Let's go!" Tai called.

"And let the monsters beware!" Matt cheered. 


	3. Garurumon

**Digimon Adventure**

**X**

**Chapter Three: Garurumon**

_(Sorry this took so long. This episode was more about talking than action and I kept on loosing my train of thought as to where to go next or who should say what.)_

"The view is beautiful," Mimi murmured wistfully, the sea breeze blowing her hair back.

The group was gathered on a high cliff face, not as tall as the one where their partners had digivolved, but there was still a considerable drop down to the ocean's surface. The sun was beginning to set in the sky, indicating just how long the group had been walking.

The group stopped for a break and Izzy took this opportunity to ask Tentomon about something that had been bugging him.

"Tentomon?"

"Yes Izzy?" he replied.

"You Digimon need to access our energy to Digivolve correct?"

"Yes, why do you ask?"

Izzy paused for a moment. Then he replied: "I'm merely speculating that Agumon's Digivolution to Greymon is the cause of Tai's fatigue. If you require our energy to Digivolve, I wonder what prolonged effects would have on our bodies."

"Why are you asking me?" Tentomon asked, curiosity in his voice. "Digivolution is a process I only went through once before today. And even then it took years to complete."

Izzy didn't know what to say in response. However he didn't have to. A guttural roar echoed out from nearby. Izzy looked up and saw a white, scaly Digimon stomping towards them. Black armour plates covered most of its body, blood red scars covering areas where the armour failed to protect it. Its eyes were a deep green and its teeth were razor sharp. A single, towering horn grew from the creature's nose.

"What's that Digimon?" T.K. asked shocked.

"Oh that's a Monochromon," Tentomon said casually. "Don't worry; he's more of a laid back Digimon."

Monochromon growled and took a step forward, his green eyes boring holes into the group. Tentomon took a nervous step backwards and cleared his throat.

"Although it is wise to be cautious with Monochromon," he continued. "They do tend to get a bit miffed when they're hungry."

Monochromon paused, then roared, his voice cutting across the calm sea.

"Then he's gotta' be starving," Tai said, "'Cause he looks furious!"

"Do you think he wants to eat us?" Mimi asked terrified.

Monochromon growled, side stepping, sizing up his prey. The group of teenagers immediately stepped the other way. Monochromon took another step and the group followed.

"What are we goanna' do?" Patamon asked.

A growl from behind them cut them off before they could even begin to reply. A few heads turned, followed by despondent moans and horrified gasps. A second Monochromon was stomping out from behind a rock wall that the group had inadvertently backed up against.

"Oh that's great," Sora muttered backing up against Mimi, who hadn't taken her eyes off the first Monochromon.

"We're caught between a rock and two sets of teeth," Matt said, summing up the situation pretty well.

The Monochromon that had appeared behind them roared and charged forward. Sora cried out in warning. The team turned and pressed themselves flat against the rock as the Monochromon barrelled straight past them. The second Monochromon roared and ran to meet the first, both Digimon grappling and fighting each other.

"They're fighting over territory," Izzy said, recognising the animalistic need in the way the Monochromon fought.

"They can just have it then," Palmon said, breaking from the group and running into the forest. The group decided that this was the most sensible course of action and followed the bipedal plant into the foliage.

The roars of the Monochromon's battle followed them deep into the forest. The sounds of agonised roars as claws, teeth and horns pierced scaled flesh. The grunts of effort as each Digimon attempted to gain ground over the other. These weren't like their partners. The Monochromon were mindless animals.

The group ran further and further trying to get away from the creatures before their battle ended. Only when they stopped to pause for breath did they realise that they had left the Monochromon far behind, and that neither of them were coming after. They stopped for a few minutes to recover their breath, before it was suggested that they continued moving.

After a while Matt noticed that in-between the trees, random road signs were planted into the ground. He opened his mouth to point this out to the others, but then thought better of it. He was pretty certain that they had seen them too. From somewhere near the middle of the group Mimi groaned.

"I don't walk this much unless I'm at the mall," she moaned. "And as you can see we're nowhere near one."

"Mimi stop complaining," Tai said, a slightly irritable edge to his voice.

"No I mean it!" she snapped back. "Can't we take a break?"

"Why don't you take off your shoes and socks Mimi?" Agumon suggested. "I think it's much more practical that way."

"What?" she cried incredulous. "I'm not going to walk in dirt in my bare feet."

"I love the feel of dirt under my feet," Palmon said, a look of bliss sweeping across her face. "Especially between my roots."

"It appears that we're loosing out light source," Izzy commented, referring to the setting sun.

"What a weird sunset," Sora muttered.

"This whole island is weird!" Izzy cried throwing his hands up into the air. "And who knows what could come out at night."

"Then we need to find a place to set up camp," Tai said, yawning slightly.

"Hold on I detect water," Tentomon said taking flight. "Wait here 'til I check it out."

Tentomon flew up above the tree canopy, the group waiting fro him to return. A few minutes later Tentomon landed again beside Izzy.

"As usual I'm right," he said brightly (Gommamon coughed, muttering something about mushrooms). "There's a lake not far from here, perfect for a camp sight. And if I'm not mistaken a variety of tasty fish."

"Well then that's where we'll set up camp then," Tai said. He stretched and yawned again. Izzy noted this as another point in his theory that the Digimon really did need to use energy from their human partners in order to Digivolve. They set off once more, heading in the direction of the suggested campsite.

_(X)_

_The red skinned Digimon whipped his barbed tail through the air. He beat large bat-like wings and clicked his fingers. Purple fire ignited in his palm. He began to roll it in his hand like it was a small ball. The watch detail was especially tedious but at least these humans were fun to watch, as they ran about and tried to survive. It was hilarious. He chuckled, his voice demonic and devoid of mirth. He twirled his trident like a baton, flying lazily after the group._

_His master was worried about them. If they were enough to make _him_ feel nervous they couldn't be all that harmless. Perhaps they _were_ the Digidestined._

_(X)_

The lake was still. Nothing could disturb it. Close to its edge lay a small island, a natural bridge of dirt and stone connecting it to the shore. Near the centre of the lake was nestled a collection of radio towers and telegraph poles, none of which had wires connecting to any visible power source. Near the edge of the lake the team gathered. Mimi had wasted no time in stripping her shoes and socks off and plunging them into the water. The lake didn't have a shallow bank, in fact to be perfectly accurate; it could have been considered a pool, or a hole.

"It should be safe to rest here tonight," Biyomon observed scanning the environment.

"I guess we'll be sleeping outdoors," Matt muttered.

"Great," Sora beamed. "I love sleeping outside."

Mimi looked up sharply, disgusted at where the conversation was going. "If I won't walk in dirt what makes you think I'll sleep in it?" she snapped, almost on the verge of tears.

"Mimi do you see a hotel around here?" Tai sighed, fed up with the slightly younger girl's constant whining.

As he spoke, Matt felt the hairs on the back of his neck stiffen. A smell of ozone filled the air and from nearby came the sound of electricity crackling, overpowering the sound waves. He looked over to where he thought the sound was coming from. On the small islet just off of the lake's (or pool's) bank, situated at the centre was a long white and green bus-like vehicle. However its eight wheels looked like the belonged on tracks rather than a road. On top of it was a collection of metallic pylons that sparked with energy that they seemed to generate themselves. Lights within and at the front of the vehicle came on, illuminating its darkening surroundings. Matt had never used such transport but he knew it to be a tram car. What one was doing here though?

"It's a trolley car," T.K. muttered, confused.

"That's weird," Izzy muttered, resting his chin between thumb and fore-finger. "The lights just… came on."

"Maybe there are some people and or Digimon inside that can help us out," Sora suggested.

"In which case we should check it out," Tai said, flashing a tired smile.

"Well then let's go!" Matt cried.

Before either of them could move however Mimi was already racing ahead, Palmon running behind her, carrying the girl's shoes and socks.

"Mimi wait!" Tai called, he and Matt rushing after the over emotional girl.

Mimi was however already at the earth bank. Her breathing was slightly laboured as she ran towards the trolley car but her hopes were high.

"Maybe it can take us back home!" she cried happily. "Oh, in air conditioned comfort!"

She slowed to a dreamy walk as the fantasy over came her slightly simple thought process. The rest of the group managed to catch up with her as she reached the trolley car. Tai reached the door and pressed the emergency open button. The doors opened with a hiss of pneumatics. Tai stepped onto the bus but with little enthusiasm. He knew what he'd find.

"Empty," he said, falling haphazardly onto one the long, lime green leather seats that lined the trolley's sides.

"Totally empty," Sora moaned defeated, flopping onto the seat opposite Tai.

"No trolley car is _this_ clean," Tai heard Izzy mutter from his position further up the bus. Tai glanced and saw that the boy was crawling around on hands and knees to analyse the vehicle's floor.

"Ah that's nice," Mimi sighed as she reclined onto another seat a little way down from Tai. "These seats are really comfy."

"Something's definitely wrong here," Tai muttered.

"Yeah," Matt agreed, standing in the doorway, eyeing every inch of the car suspiciously.

"You mean like those phone booths?" Joe muttered.

"Oh says the guy who refused to admit they didn't work?" T.K. chuckled.

Joe scowled as Matt spoke again: "Something just like what happened at the phone booths could easily happen here."

"Yeah, like this trying to drive itself?" Joe asked sarcastically.

"This world is solely populated by monsters," Izzy reminded. "Something like a trolley car driving itself does not seem as far-fetched to me."

"That sounds to me like how we're getting home possibly," Tai muttered.

"Then we have nothing to loose by staying here," Sora stated happily.

"Can we get something to eat?" Tentomon moaned, looking hungrily at the EMERGENCY bag.

"I think we should save the emergency food for when we really need it," Izzy said. "Let's see what we can get around here first."

The group gave begrudging agreements with Izzy and one by one filed out, thinking of what they could try and bring in for the team to eat.

_(X)_

Izzy's annoyed frown crossed his face for the tenth time in the last twenty minutes.

"Gommamon stop playing in the water!" he snapped as the Digimon lay lazily on his back, flicking his tail through the cool waters. He looked at Izzy as the boy called to him and ignored him. "Gommamon!" Izzy shouted. "I can't catch any fish if you keep scaring them away!"

This caught Gommamon's attention. The aquatic mammal Digimon quickly sway towards the back of the lake and began to shake himself dry. He gave Izzy a disparaging look before stalking off to find Joe.

Tentomon was hovering from one tree to the next, Agumon and Gabumon following on the ground, Patamon and Biyomon following behind. Tentomon landed on a branch, before crying with delight.

"Ahah! There is a variety of fruit here."

Biyomon flew up to Tentomon's level and began to assist the arthropod Digimon in extracting various fruit from the branches. Patamon raised an eyebrow before looking at Agumon and Gabumon.

"Gabumon could you stand over there?" Patamon asked. Gabumon didn't question the smaller Digimon. Patamon leapt onto Agumon's head. Agumon flinched slightly but stood still. Patamon chose his target from the available fruit still hanging in the tree. He smiled as he saw the perfect target. He leaned forward slightly and took in a deep breath. Once he was sure it was escaping out of his ears he leaned backwards and expelled the air.

A precision shot of high pressured air hit the thin stalk that held the bunch of orange banana like fruit. The stalk snapped with ease and fell. Patamon looked with satisfaction at the falling fruit, before seeing where it would land. He winced as it impacted.

"Ow!" Gabumon cried as one of the fruit was pierced on his horn. He groaned and looked accusingly at Patamon. The smaller Digimon did his best to look humble as he tried to hide his laughter. Agumon, not so subtle. The Digimon laughed like there was no tomorrow. Gabumon scowled at him as Biyomon landed beside him, rolling with laughter.

"Man you need to watch that killer breath of yours Patamon! She cried, wiping imaginary tears from her eyes.

Gabumon scowled as Palmon's voice drifted over to them.

"Mimi don't!" Palmon cried as Mimi reached for a cluster of mushrooms. Mimi quickly snatched her hand away from the fungi and raised a quizzical eyebrow at Palmon.

"Why what's wrong Palmon?" she asked showing the true extent of her naivety.

"Those mushrooms are poisonous," Palmon explained. "They'll make you really sick at the best."

Mimi blanched then smiled at Palmon, looking a little paler. "I'd be in trouble if it weren't for you Palmon," Mimi said, a slight quiver in her voice.

"Hurry up Mimi!" Sora called, a bundle of sticks held in her arms. "We're nearly set to light the fire."

Tai overheard this comment and snorted.

"Yeah, we're all set to cook dinner all right," he muttered looking at Matt. "Pity we don't have the grub."

Matt chuckled. "How're we suppos'd to cook it? Not unless we have any matches."

Tai smirked and looked over his shoulder.

"Agumon come here for a second!" he called. Agumon looked up and immediately ran towards Tai. He passed Sora who was talking to Mimi about something called 'agriculture'. He reached Tai and Matt and cocked his head. Tai pointed simply to the fire then made a pleading gesture. Agumon got the gist and let a small ball of fire out of his mouth. The dry twigs and leaves that Tai and Matt had gathered caught fire instantly.

"Thanks Agumon," Tai appraised smiling at his partner. "You are 'the man.'"

Agumon smiled and blushed slightly. Tai grinned back as the rest of the team began to return. Izzy came with T.K, both boys carrying half a dozen fish in each hand, holding them by their tails. Tentomon, Biyomon and Gabumon carrying armfuls of fruit, Patamon and Gommamon following behind, looking slightly inadequate without arms to hold food.

Various other foods were brought in by the rest of the team. Tai took a fish from Izzy and walked over to the now raging fire. He looked slightly helpless, before he held the fish over the fire. The fish was snatched from him.

"Dude, that's a sure-fire way to loose your fingers," Matt said. "And unless you want to eat the eyes I'd wait for a bit."

Tai didn't complain and watched as Matt took a Swiss-army-knife from his pocket. The blonde haired boy motioned to Izzy and T.K. who brought the fish to him. Matt quickly set to work on filleting the fish and removing the undesired qualities.

"When'd you learn how to do that?" Tai asked.

"My dad taught me," Matt replied simply. "Plus I had a few self paid cooking lessons. My dad's out most of the time so I had to learn how to take care of myself I guess."

"What about T.K. and your mom?" Tai asked confused. Matt paused for a moment.

"My parents were divorced when I was younger," Matt muttered. "Dad got custody over me and mom got T.K."

"Oh," Tai muttered.

"I don't get to see T.K. as much as I'd like to," Matt muttered, almost to himself. "The last time I saw him before camp was at his thirteenth birthday party. That was almost three months ago."

Tai didn't know what to say. The conversation had taken an awkward turn. Thankfully Matt didn't seem that interested in talking anymore. He hissed slightly as he pricked his thumb on the tip of the knife. He lifted the bleeding digit to eye line and flicked the bead of blood off of his thumb.

"Hey Sora can you pass me one of those sticks?" Matt called. Sora looked at him before throwing a long stick at him. Matt nodded his thanks before he began to carve a point at the end it.

Matt continued to fillet and carve the fish and the sticks, as Izzy began to share out the rest of the food between the team. It was a diverse selection of fruits and berries, which the Digimon began to eat with gusto as soon as they were given their portions.

Everyone began to gather around the fire as the sun began to sink lower in the sky, and the temperature began to drop. The fish had each been skewered by the sticks Matt had carved, and each one was stuck into the ground just outside the fire. The smell of roasting meat soon wafted to ever nostril as each individual fish was slowly cooked. The group sat in silence for a while as the fish began to cook. Mimi was the first to speak.

"That was better than the junk in the emergency food," she said smiling sleepily.

"Be grateful we have any food in the fist place," Matt muttered.

"So what are we going to do?" Tai asked, leaning backwards, staring at the now black sky.

"Well I don't think it's safe for us to stay here at night without a watch schedule," Izzy reasoned. "We know next to nothing about this world and if we went to sleep without someone to wake us should some danger appear then we'd be sleeping ducks. I think that two hour shifts will be sufficient to cover the night."

"Agreed," Tai agreed. "I'll take the first shift."

"You sure Tai?" Sora asked. "You seem more tired than the rest of us."

"I'll be fine," Tai boasted, waving off Sora's worry. "Who's taking watch after me?"

"I will," Matt volunteered instantly. Tai cocked an eyebrow in the fierceness in his voice but said nothing of it.

"So how about I take charge after that," Izzy suggested. "And then Joe can finish off the night?"

"Sure," Joe said smiling. Matt sat forward sharply. Gabumon was on his feet at once, but Matt simply pulled each of the fish's sticks out of the ground and turning them around to allow each side of the animal to be properly cooked. The Digimon gave out a small sigh and sat down beside Matt once he had finished his task.

"They should be ready in a few more minutes," Matt explained.

The group sat in silence for a few minutes before Mimi spoke once again.

"It's getting cold," she said. "I think I'll need a warm blanket to help me sleep."

"Hey Gabumon," Tai said, a look of mock seriousness looming across his face. "Better watch your back as you sleep or Mimi'll make a fur coat outta you."

"Ha, ha Tai," Gabumon muttered. "That's hysterical."

Matt sighed and plucked a fish from out of the ground. "They're good," he told the group at large.

"Thanks Matt," T.K. said, taking a fish out of the ground for himself. One by one the team chose their fish and began to eat. Matt was a little disappointed. The meat was a little charred in places and without the proper seasoning the fish had little to no flavor. However it was nice to have something to eat and to his starved taste buds the little flavor the fish had was like paradise. Mimi however clearly didn't think so.

"It's burnt!" she cried, sticking her tongue out and picking the charred bits of scale off of her tongue.

"And your point?" Tai asked. "It has just been in an open fire. Show a little more gratitude to the chef."

"I'm not going to eat this," Mimi said in disgust. "I want a cheeseburger."

"Unfortunately I don't think we can get those in the wild," Matt snapped. "Be grateful we got this to eat. Who knows how long we'll be here and how long our food supplies will last. So just be thankful we had something to eat today."

Mimi looked like she was on the verge of tears and looked down at her meal. Matt looked down at the ground, feeling ashamed of himself. He hadn't meant to snap, but his tensions had been high all day, not only with keeping an eye out for himself, but for T.K. as well.

The group fell quiet. Everyone seemed to have lost their appetite. Everyone except Gommamon who was eating like nothing had happened. Izzy cleared his throat, this simple action sounding louder than it naturally should.

"I think we could all benefit from a good night's sleep," he said.

"Yeah," T.K. grunted awkwardly. Slowly the group got to their feet and trudged over to the car, leaving Tai, Agumon and Matt sitting around the fire. Tai looked into the flames; seemingly hypnotized by the way they danced. Matt was still staring resolutely at the ground.

"She's been getting on my nerves too," Tai said at last. Matt looked up at him. Tai was still staring into the fire, his browns eyes filled with its reflection.

"You handle it better," Matt said. "You didn't lash out at her."

"S'not the point," Tai said. "You don't need to feel guilty. I'm sure everyone's been getting annoyed with her constant whining. You just happened to snap first because you've been looking out for your brother as well as yourself."

"That's still no reason for me to go yelling at her," Matt mumbled.

"Maybe not but you shouldn't beat yourself up about it," Tai told him. "I'm sure we'll all have our fare share of fallouts before we get back home, but we'll need to get over them and move past them if we all want to make it."

Matt looked at Tai and smiled.

"Thanks," he said, getting to his feet. "I'm gonna turn in now."

"Sleep well," Tai said.

(D)

An hour later Tai was seriously regretting his decision to keep first watch. He rubbed his eyes almost constantly to keep them open and felt like he was about to keel over and fall asleep at every other moment.

"Tai," Agumon said poking him in the leg. "You need to keep awake. You can't fall asleep on your first night watch."

"My eyes won't stay open," Tai complained. He got to his feet and walked sluggishly to the islet shore. "I'm going to splash some water on my face."

He reached the shore and stripped his gloves off. He dipped his bare hands into the cool, almost freezing water, and splashed the contents of his cupper hands onto his face. Although bitter cold it did the trick. Tai's senses sharpened slightly. Enough so that he wouldn't fall asleep for a good while at least.

Tai began to make his way back to the fire at a faster pace. He looked over to Agumon who was playing with the fire. He was about to tell him that that was a stupid thing to do when he saw a figure running from the trolley car. As they came within the light of the fire Tai saw that it was Mimi.

Tai stopped and blinked a few times. What was Mimi doing up at this time of night? Tai's immediate thought was that she was going to relieve herself. But then, why was she running, and why wasn't Palmon with her? It then came to him that Mimi was running away from something.

Tai rolled his eyes. Mimi was being petulant again. Still, she shouldn't be out at this time all on her own. Especially in a world where monsters could be hiding around every corner. He looked back to the trolley car. If something happened while he was out chasing after Mimi the rest of the team would be completely defenseless. Still, if _Mimi_ was attacked, there wouldn't be any sort of help. At least everyone on the car had their Digimon.

Tai made his mind up. He was going to get Mimi back. He quickly ran to Agumon's side.

"Saddle up buddy," Tai said, pulling his gloves back on.

"Why?" Agumon asked confused.

"I just saw Mimi running off into the forest," Tai explained. "We're going after her to make sure she doesn't meet up with any trouble."

Agumon nodded as he and Tai quickly ran off to the mainland and into the forest after Mimi. Tai hoped he could find her before she got into any serious trouble.

(D)

Matt shuddered awake. He didn't know what it was that had caused him to awaken but he could tell something was wrong. It didn't take him long to figure out what. Mimi was gone from where she had been sleeping. Matt quickly looked out the window and saw an absence of people beside the fire. Matt got to his feet and slowly shook Gabumon awake.

"Gabumon," Matt said.

"What is it Matt?" Gabumon asked.

"It's time to start our shift buddy," Matt said. He had no idea where Tai, Mimi or Agumon had gone but it couldn't be good. Someone had to keep watch while Tai was away however, and Matt had volunteered to take watch after Tai hadn't he?

Matt and Gabumon left the trolley car whilst trying not to awaken anyone from their slumber. Matt made his way to the fire and sat down, rubbing sleep from his eyes. The fire was beginning to dim slightly. Matt looked about and saw some kindling and other, larger pieces of wood that had been brought to keep the fire going throughout the night.

Matt slowly threw some pieces of kindling on the fire then hefted part of a fallen branch onto the flames as well. He sat back down and looked out into the darkness. He wondered how long Tai had been away doing whatever. How long had they been unprotected?

He sighed and put his head in his hand. He couldn't sit here and worry. Tai would be okay as long as he had Agumon with him. He needed to calm down. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a harmonica. Gabumon looked at it curiously.

"What is that?" he asked. Matt looked at him.

"It's a harmonica," Matt explained. "It's a musical instrument." Seeing the confused look on Gabumon's face Matt sighed. "I'll show you, watch."

He lifted the instrument to his lips and blew into it. He began to play a soft, slow little tune. It wasn't anything special and it was one of the only tune's Matt could play, but Gabumon was completely enthralled by the small metal instrument.

"Such a wonderful sound," he said smiling. Matt had to agree. It was a few minutes before he finished the song. Gabumon gave Matt a round of applause. Matt took a mock bow as he put the harmonica back to his lips for an encore.

Matt frowned. Had it been his imagination or had the ground rocked ever so slightly? He was just about to dismiss it when he felt another, stronger tremor. There was no way he had imagined that and his suspicions were confirmed when Gabumon next spoke.

"Did you feel that?" he asked.

"Yeah," Matt said.

A distant scream sounded out from the forest and all hell broke loose.

(D)

"Mimi calm down it's only us," Tai said.

"What are you doing?" Mimi yelled at him.

"Looking out for you!" Tai snapped. "What do you think you're doing out here in the middle of the night? You could have been eaten, or worse!"

Mimi paused at that thought.

"What the hell did you think you were doing?" Tai asked again. Mimi looked down, slightly ashamed.

"I-I just wanted to get away from Matt," she whispered. Tai put his head on his hand.

"Listen," he said calmly. "Matt said that stuff not because he doesn't like you. It's because he's just stressed. We all are, but Matt has his brother to look out for as well as himself. So he lost his cool, that doesn't mean you need to run away from it. You need to get up and get over it. Okay?"

Mimi nodded slowly.

"Good," Tai said. "Come on, we need to get back to the others. Agumon we're heading back."

Tai turned to his partner as something large, scaly and red slammed into him, knocking him to the ground. It was that, that caused Mimi's scream.

(D)

A huge, towering something burst from out of the water. Matt was on his feet in an instant, staring aghast at what had just emerged from underneath the water's surface. As the water cascaded down its body, Matt got a full look at the beast. It was serpentine in appearance. Its body was slick with water, with blue scales lining its back, white scales covering its belly and throat. A purple, spiked tongue flickered from in-between sharp, pointed fangs and from where they were situated in its yellow head; its blue eyes glowered at Matt and Gabumon.

"What is that thing?" called Izzy as he ran out of the trolley car to arrive next to Matt, Tentomon and the others close behind.

"Seadramon!" Tentomon cried, sounding positively terrified.

"Let's get him!" cried Biyomon, taking flight. "Spiral Twister!"

Seadramon hissed as the green fires blazed against his yellow armored head. He snorted and a gust of icy wind buffeted Biyomon out of the air. Caught in the strong icy gust the span out of control, before righting herself as Tentomon took flight.

"Super Shocker!" he cried, a blast of lightning striking Seadramon in the neck. Seadramon gave a gargled growl, more out of annoyance than pain. Water burst out from underneath Tentomon and Seadrmon's serpentine tail lashed out and struck Tentomon. The insect Digimon crashed into the water, reemerging moments later, sodden and bobbing in the water.

"Poison Ivy!" Palmon cried. Her vines lashed out and wrapped around Seadramon's neck. However his scaly skin was slippery and Palmon found it impossible to gain purchase on it with her vine fingers.

"Boom Bubble!" Patamon cried. The bubble of air shot towards Seadramon. However when it had reached the leviathan it had lost all pressure and momentum, becoming a light breeze on his skin.

Seadramon opened his mouth and let of a harsh blast of foul smelling, icy air. It's frosty bite chilled Matt to the bone. He collapsed to his knees and slowly wrapped his arms around himself. His teeth chattered and still the unrelenting cold billowed around him.

"Blue Blaster!" From beside him he heard Gabumon chatter an attack. He looked through screwed up eyes to see a burst of blue fire. The blast of winter cold subsided and Seadramon gave a guttural growl. There was the sound of splashing water and then something strong and hard smashed into Matt from the side.

He flew through the air, Gabumon's cries beside him telling him that he had been hit by Seadramon's strike as well. Then there was an unbelievable cold as Matt plunged into the water. Darkness surrounded him and the cold numbed his senses. He could vaguely see the light of the moon high above the water.

Something slimy wrapped tightly around him. The breath was squeezed out of him, bubbles escaping from his mouth and nose as whatever was holding him dragged him swiftly up to the surface. The grip on him grew tighter as he burst through the surface of the water. He gulped in air as he shook the water out of his eyes. He looked around and saw Seadramon had coiled his tail around him. Seadramon's face loomed up to Matt's, as the rest of the group cried out from the islet.

(D)

The red skinned Digimon swiped its trident at Tai. The force of the blow sent Tai into a tree. He landed heavily on the ground, winded and staring up at the red skinned fiend. He smiled darkly and twirled the trident over and over. He was tall, with thin arms and legs. His nose was long and pointed and his tail had a barbed tip.

"I can't have you running off now can I?" he chuckled, his voice harsh and devoid of humor. He stabbed down with the trident and Tai rolled away. He looked out of the corner of his eye. Mimi was standing away from the fight, not making a sound. Agumon was nowhere to be seen. Hopefully he wasn't hurt.

"You're a slippery one," the Digimon chuckled in that mirthless voice. He lashed out and caught Tai in the midriff. Tai was sent sprawling, feeling battered from the strikes that the Digimon had already dealt him.

"Pepper Breath!" a voice called out from behind him. He turned just to see the ball of flames crash into him. He took a few staggering steps before he regained his balance. The red Digimon smirked, although there was a dangerous glint in his eyes.

"Death Crush," he whispered and he slammed his trident into the earth where Agumon had been moments before.

"Who are you?" Agumon demanded. "Why are you attacking us?"

The Digimon shrugged. "I am Boogeymon. And as to why I'm attacking you… well, that's on a need to know basis."

And he lunged, driving the trident forwards. Agumon ducked, but received a strong backhand strike for his trouble. Agumon rolled and Tai got to his feet, his stance shaky but his resolve steely. Boogeymon looked over his shoulder.

"Don't hurt yourself boy," he said calmly. "That's my job."

Tai growled and took a shaky step. Boogeymon moved so fast Tai didn't see him. One second he was there, the next, he had Tai pinned by the throat against a tree. Tai reache dup and tried to pry Boogeymon's fingers off of his neck as for the second time that day, all the oxygen was forced from his body.

"You have no idea what you're dealing with boy," he hissed darkly. "You think that I'm bad? You think those creatures you've fought before were tough? They were just the tip of the iceberg. When the time comes, you'll see what true power is all about."

Tai was loosing focus. He felt light headed and dizzy. He couldn't get any air to his lungs. And then he felt it. The same tingling, buzzing feeling that he had felt when Shellmon had him. It was buzzing flowing through him. And then like it had done before, it was gone. Boogeymon cried out and let Tai go, his hand burnt by what Tai knew not.

He looked at Tai and raised his pitchfork. Behind him, the dark silhouette of Greymon formed, blocking out the moon.

(D)

A cold, numbing sensation was seeping into Matt. The water, the crushing grip, it was all too much for him to bear. His breathing was shallow, unable to get a proper breath into his lungs. Darkness swam before his vision. And then, he felt something. A powerful warmth spreading through his body, accompanied by a pleasant tingling sensation.

A cry, louder than all the others came to Matt's ears.

"MAATT!" Gabumon roared.

The sensation left as quickly as it arrived. Seadramon hissed in surprise. Matt felt exhausted, but was distracted by a powerful white light. He screwed up his eyes against it until it disappeared. When he looked to where the light had been shining from he saw Gabumon taking powerful strokes towards him.

As Matt watched, Gabumon started to change. His red eyes became yellow and his horn receded back into his skull. He began to grow as the blue coat over his back quickly wrapped over his whole body, changing from blue to white, with deep blue strips. A mane of blue fur grew from around his neck as the new Digimon burst from the water, giving a wolf-like howl, purple claws flashing as the came down on Seadramon's tail.

Seadramon roared and dropped Matt into the water. Matt was barely in the water for a moment when the blue wolf scooped him onto his back and took him back to the islet. Safely there, Matt turned as his savior swam back to face Seadramon.

"Garurumon," Tentomon breathed. "Seadramon will have a hard time taking him down. The fur of a Garurumon is said to be strong as steel."

"I hope you're right Tentomon," Matt said, watching as Garurumon grappled with Seadramon in the water. Seadramon's size proved to be a disadvantage in a close quarters fight; he was slow and sluggish, whereas Garurumon was like some form of growling torpedo.

After another swipe from Garurumon's claws, Seadramon seemed to have had enough. With a furious roar, he swiped at Garurumon with his tale. Garurumon, taken aback by such a swift blow, was unable to recover as Seadramon opened his mouth and released a power, freezing gale. This was clearly a more powerful attack than the one he had used before.

The water surrounding Garurumon began to freeze and the wolf Digimon was frozen in place. Matt looked on in horror as the ice block his Digimon had become trapped in began to sink. Then, quite suddenly, it exploded. Garurumon let out a howl and opened his maw.

"Howling Blaster!" he roared. A torrent of blue fire erupted from his mouth and struck Seadramon in his face. The serpent Digimon cried out in pain and dived back into the depths in a wave of water. Garurumon snarled, dissatisfied with his opponents cowardice, but decided that the battle was won. He swam back to the other, a bright light surrounding him as he returned to Gabumon.

(D)

Greymon swiped again as Boogeymon took to the skies. Boogeymon was burnt and scarred from where Greymon had attacked him, whilst he had been unable to land a more damaging hit upon Greymon.

"Death Crush!" Boogeymon cried, gripping his trident with both hands. He dived at Greymon, trident glowing with purple flames. Greymon snatched Boogeymon out of the air and threw him down at the ground. Boogeymon shook himself as Greymon lifted his foot into the air, preparing to stand on the smaller Digimon.

Boogeymon looked up and lifted his trident into the air. The three prongs sank into Greymon's foot and the large Digimon roared in pain as he lifted his foot off of Boogeymon.

Mimi watched in silent terror, trying to keep the Digimon in her line of sight, and trying to keep Tai out of the line of fire. After Agumon had digivolved, Tai had simply collapsed, unconscious. Mimi had ran over whilst Boogeymon was preoccupied and tried to reawaken him, however nothing she did could rouse him. It was like he had died, but he was still breathing so that clearly wasn't what had happened.

Boogeymon cried out and Mimi looked up. Greymon had caught him again, and this time he wasn't letting go. Boogeymon's trident was lying on the ground and the small Digimon was flailing his legs in the air. Greymon growled and tightened his grip on Boogeymon.

Boogeymon stopped his squirming and closed his eyes. When he opened them again, they were filled with blood red energy.

"Ruby Eye," he called. The energy flashed from his eyes and struck Greymon on the cheek. The larger Digimon roared in pain and brought Boogeymon up to his face.

"You just earned yourself a one way trip to Nova City," he growled. "Population. YOU!"

And Greymon threw Boogeymon into the air with such force that it rocked the tops of the trees. Boogeymon cried out, unable to right himself as he tumbled higher and higher through the air.

Greymon opened his jaws and cried: "Nova Blast!"

The sphere of white hot flames was almost blinding in the dark night as it blasted through the air. It exploded on impact with Boogeymon; the Digimon's drawn out scream of agony only just audible. Mimi watched open mouthed, before looking back to Greymon. The Digimon was glowing as he shrank back, becoming Agumon once more. He ran over to Tai's side, looking worried. Tai was just as out of it as he was before and looking pale now that Mimi came to notice it.

"We have to get him back," Agumon said, worried. Mimi nodded but didn't say anything. She didn't know how they were supposed to get Tai back to the others. She couldn't carry him that was for sure.

"I think it came from over here!" called a voice from nearby. Mimi stood up sharply. She recognized that voice. It was Sora.

"Sora!" Mimi cried.

"Mimi?"

"Sora we're over here!" Agumon called.

There was the sound of many footfalls as Sora and Joe emerged from the tree line, Biyomon and Gommamon in tow. Sora looked at Agumon, then Mimi, and then she saw Tai.

"Oh my God," she whispered as Joe rushed to Tai's side.

"What happened?" Sora asked.

"We were attacked," Agumon said simply.

"Join the club," Gommamon muttered.

"What happened?" Mimi asked.

"We'll tell you about it on the way back," Joe said, picking Tai up underneath the armpits. He looked at Sora and Mimi. "He's just passed out. Guess he pushed himself too far or something like that. Agumon could you help me with his legs?"

Agumon nodded and ran to Tai, picking him up off of the ground by his ankles with Joe's combined effort. The two then began to walk back to camp, slowly because of their shared burden.

"Mimi?" Mimi jumped slightly, more concerned with what Joe and Agumon were doing that she actually forgot about Sora.

"Y-yeah?" she responded, slightly shaken.

"You okay?" Sora asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she muttered. Sora smiled, though she was not convinced.

"Mimi, what happened to Tai, do you know?" she asked. Mimi shook her head.

"He just collapsed after Agumon digivolved," Mimi explained. "I thought that had died or something."

Sora saw that Mimi was about to cry. She quickly pulled Mimi into a motherly sort of hug and soothed her.

"It's okay," she whispered. "He's okay and so are you."

Mimi nodded but didn't speak. Sore held Mimi out by the shoulders and looked at her.

"I think we could all do with a good night's sleep now huh?" she said smiling. Mimi nodded and gave a weak smile.

(D)

When morning came things had clearly settled down from the previous night. The Digimon were all asleep when Matt awoke. He yawned and rubbed his tired eyes. He hadn't really got much sleep after the previous night's events and his clothes were still damp in places but all in all he felt better. Slightly drained but fighting fit nonetheless.

"Morning," said a quiet voice from down the bus. Matt looked up and saw Tai smiling at him.

"The dead awakes do they?" Matt said just as quietly. Tai smiled.

"You feel better then?" Matt asked. Tai shrugged.

"What did I miss while I was out?" Tai asked. Matt smiled

"Nothing much."


	4. Biyomon Get's Firepower

**`Digimon Adventure**

**X**

**Chapter Four: Biyomon Gets Firepower**

The sun was rising higher in the sky as the group marched slowly away through the forest. The events of the previous night were one of the few current topics of discussion. Tai was retelling what he could remember of the battle with Boogeymon to Izzy, whilst Gabumon was telling his version of events of the battle between himself and Seadramon to Agumon.

The rest of the group was talking to each other about themselves. The world of Digimon was exciting, but they had exhausted all talk of the possibilities as to why they were there (though Izzy still adamantly stuck to his alien theory). It was far more interesting to learn about each other.

Sora stuck to the back of the group, not talking much. It was she who first heard the strange, whirring screeching sound from high above. She stopped and looked up. When she realized that no one else was hearing it she frowned.

"Hey!" she called. Everyone stopped and looked at her. "Listen," Sora said, looking back to the sky. Everyone else followed suit, listening for what Sora had heard. Some people closed their eyes to better hear the sound.

The sound was growing nearer, the sound of air ricocheting across the ground as whatever was coming reached supersonic speeds. Sora kept on looking; wanting to see what was coming. A black object shot across the skies. It was so fast that it left after images. It was flat from what Sora could see briefly, and was shaped like a black, shadowy gear.

And then it was gone. The noise that followed it faded away into the distance. Sora realized that she was holding her hands to her ears. She slowly lifted them from the sides of her head and looked at the rest of the group. They too appeared to have been holding their hands to their ears.

"What was that?" Mimi asked in bewilderment.

"I think it was some kind of aircraft," Matt said slowly.

"Looked like a big flying gear to me," Tai commented, still looking at the sky. Izzy stepped forward, looking slightly smug.

"Admit it," he said. "My alien theory is becoming more and more plausible."

"Yeah," T.K. muttered, his voice dripped with false excitement. "They could have hit with an anti-gravity ray and made us all crooked." He cocked his head and looked at a nearby sign. "Or maybe it's just that sign that's crooked."

"Funny T.K." Izzy muttered.

"Okay!" Sora said loudly, sensing a fight as T.K. opened his mouth. "Now that that's over with I think we should get going again."

"That would be fine if we knew where we were going," Matt said looking around. "We don't even know where we are."

"That kind of thinking is kinda dumb Matt," Tai said. "I say we just pick a direction and hope for the best. Maybe we'll be able to find some other form of intelligent life here."

"Good thinking," Izzy mused. "But which direction should we go in?"

Biyomon looked up and appeared to sniff the air. After a few moments she pointed into the tree line.

"That way," she said.

"What's so special about that way?" Joe asked.

"Trust me," Biyomon answered. And she started walking swiftly in the direction that she had pointed. The group quickly followed slightly perplexed. Upon catching up to Biyomon, the bird Digimon slowed down. She idled to Sora's side as Matt looked around. There were more signs in this part of the forest than there were before. All of them road signs. Some were 'No U-Turn' signs. Others were speed-limit signs.

"Moving right along then folks," Matt said slightly amused. "Keep it moving please, we are now passing through the Forest of Irrelevant Road Signs."

Tai laughed and joined in. "No pictures please!"

Sora sighed and rolled her eyes. 'We're lost and these guys are making jokes' she thought. Then she looked at Biyomon. 'Well,' she conceded. '_Almost_ lost.'

"Hey wait up!" Joe called. "My shoelace is broken."

"You need new shoes," Mimi said. She gasped and smiled dreamily at the thought. "New shoes."

"Hey look!" Matt cried. He was pointing through a break in the tree-line through which he could clearly see an array of telephone poles, erected (A/N: If you laughed at that then you are probably just as immature as me) in a vast savannah of white sands.

"Telephone poles?" Tai muttered slightly confused. Only slightly. He shrugged as he remembered that he was in a different world now.

"We're getting closer," Biyomon chirped happily.

"Closer to what?" Sora asked.

Before Biyomon could answer there came a familiar sound from overhead. A sonic, rumbling whirring noise. The black object shot out high above the tree line and sailed high over the desert its slipstream kicking up dust in its wake. Now that Sora had a more prolonged look at it she realized that Tai was right. The flying object, whatever it was, looked like a big, black, spiked gear.

"There it is again!" Izzy breathed.

"Yeah, the alien saucer," Tai joked.

"And it's heading for a close encounter," Matt added, a touch more seriousness in his voice. He was right. The black gear was spiralling towards a huge, mountain like hillside, nearly completely covered by forest canopy. Its top was a flat plateau. The gear disappeared from sight and the sound left in its wake soon faded.

The group stood in silence for a few minutes before Biyomon ran out in front again, beckoning them along behind her.

"Come on!" she called, sounding more chipper than usual if it were possible. She turned to give them all a twinkling smile. "It won't be too long now."

Sora was the first to follow her partner. She had now resigned herself to accept the fact that Biyomon would not rest until she had shown them what she wanted to show them. It was clearly meant to be a surprise.

(D)

_The Black Gear sailed through the air, slowing down, its revolutions coming into more discernable vision. Then it sped up again and crashed into the mountain, nearby to the lake that boasted the cleanest water in the Digital World. There it waited, sentient, for the guardian who protected these shores._

(D)

The heat was sweltering in the desert. It was illogical that such a temperature difference would occur just from walking out from underneath the canopy. Yet a few minutes from exiting the shade of the tree line, the group was all sweating profusely. Izzy wiped his hand across his forehead and let out a quiet groan. He could see that everyone else was feeling the pressure.

"It's so hot," T.K. murmured, to himself more than anyone else. "I can feel the heat coming up through my socks…"

Patamon looked down from where he rested on T.K.'s head, his wing-ears drooping in the heat. He smiled feebly.

"Maybe you should put your shoes back on then," he muttered. Mimi had other worries.

"This desert air is destroying my complexion," she moaned. She looked across at Biyomon. "How much further is it?"

"Is that all you're worried about Mimi?" Joe asked with an irritated edge to his voice. "We'll be lucky if we even survive this hike!"

Mimi looked down at the ground, slightly ashamed. Sora looked around herself, trying to see any form of shade. It was then that her heat confused brain noticed the obvious.

"Hey," she called. "Does anyone else notice that these telephone poles don't have any connecting wires?"

Izzy looked up at this and looked around at the telephone poles.

"You're right," Izzy conceded. "I wonder if these are telephone poles. Perhaps they're some odd alien equivalent."

"Does anyone else remember the phone booths and the trolley car?" Mimi asked wearily.

"Yeah?" Izzy said slowly. "What about them?"

"Nothing," Mimi sighed. "I just wanted to see if anyone else remembered."

"That's it!" Joe cried causing those near to him to jump and look at him. "Doomed! The heat is melting our brains! We're all going to end up like roasted piglets!"

"Just remain calm Joe," Izzy soothed. "We've only been walking for five minutes."

"Izzy," Tentomon whispered. "I think we need to find some shade for Joe… and quick."

"Hey," Mimi said suddenly. "You know I said my compass wasn't working?"

"Yeah?" Tai said hopefully, praying that Mimi's compass was now in full working condition.

"Well now it's acting weird," she said, showing the group. The compass needle was spinning rapidly around the face of the device. It paused for the briefest of moments but then it would set off again.

"That _is_ weird," T.K. muttered. Izzy bent down and allowed the sand to sift through his fingers. He brought a small handful up to eye line.

"This sand contains small particles of metal which could affect the compass needle," Izzy said in mild surprise.

"This world is getting more messed up as we go along," Sora said. "I don't like it at all."

(D)

_The Black Gear twitched slightly as it felt the presence of its nearing target. The hulking flaming form was walking slowly around the lake side, taking his time. His worried growl was just audible from where the Gear rested, though it had no real sense of hearing or sight to speak of. All it had was a sense of malicious duty and a sinister agenda._

(D)

"I've taken a soil sample, measured the barometric pressure and analysed the relative humidity," Izzy said as the group moved on behind Biyomon.

"And what did you find out?" Sora asked, interested.

"It's really, _really_ _hot_," Izzy said with a touch of disappointment in the simplicity of his reply.

"Hang on just a little longer!" Biyomon called cheerily. She was the only member of the group that didn't appear to be affected by the heat of the mini-savannah. "We're almost there, don't give up!"

Palmon didn't seem to here her. The plant Digimon was weary, turning a nasty shade of yellow underneath the heat of the sun. Mimi kept giving her nervous glances.

"We're gonna be okay," Mimi assured Palmon, though she felt nervous for her Digimon.

"My head is baking," Palmon moaned. "If this keeps up much longer, I'm gonna look like a wilted salad."

Mimi bit her lip when she felt something nudge her in the side. She looked and saw T.K. offering her his hat. Mimi took it gratefully and put it onto Palmon's head.

"Thanks T.K." she said smiling thankfully at the younger boy. He smiled back and waved off the compliment.

"She needs it more than I do," he said simply. Patamon smiled tiredly before taking a breath through his nose. He coughed.

"What's that smell?"

T.K. looked down at his feet and blushed.

"So that's why they call them sweat socks," he muttered to himself.

"Okay that's it," Gommamon panted, flopping over dramatically onto his back. "Give me five guys. I can't go any further."

"Again?" Joe asked exasperated. "That's like the fourth time in as many minutes."

"Let's try thinking positively," Sora suggested. "Let's just pretend that it's raining."

Gommamon perked up slightly but remained in his flopped position on his back in the sand. Matt looked at Gommamon and felt like doing the same thing.

"Although I think everyone's up for make-belief," he said, wiping the sweat off of his brow, "I think it's time for a reality check. This doesn't show any sign of getting any better. It might be a smart move to turn around and get of here right now."

"You mean before we all have a power outage?" Tentomon queried. "I'd vote for that."

"But we're so close!" Biyomon cried, pointing in the direction they had been walking in. "It would be must faster to get there than to go back."

"Get where?" Matt asked.

"Hold on a sec guys," Tai muttered walking up to and past Biyomon. He lifted his mini-telescope to his eye. He had seen something far in the distance reflecting in the light of the sun for a while. He had dismissed it at first but as they grew nearer and showed no sign of deviating from whatever it was Tai decided this might be what Biyomon wanted to show them.

As the focus became clearer in the lens of the telescope he began to see something. Thatched roofs of small brown houses. A small, clay brick well. And then there was the glistening expanse of sparkling crystal blue water.

"Water," Tai breathed. Gommamon perked up instantly.

"Water?" he asked hopefully, rolling onto his front.

"What do you see Tai?" Izzy asked coming up to Tai's side.

"A village," Tai said, lowering the telescope and putting it into his pocket. "And a lake."

"Perfect," Mimi said clapping his hands. "All we need now is some lemons, sugar and some big fat ice-cubes."

"Maybe there we can find some friendlier Digimon to help us," Matt suggested.

"And some shade," Palmon cooed.

"And food," T.K. said, his stomach grumbling to add emphasis to his statement. He smiled embarrassed. "I'm hungry enough to eat broccoli."

"What's broccoli?" Patamon asked, confused.

Sora looked at Biyomon. "This is what you wanted to show us."

Biyomon nodded. She was looking wistfully at the spot Tai had said the village was at. Sora saw a haunting look in Biyomon's eyes. Almost longing.

"That's your home isn't it Biyomon?" Sora asked, suddenly realizing why Biyomon had been so anxious to get there. Biyomon nodded fervently.

"Well now there's no choice in the matter," Tai said beaming. "We're going."

"As if you need to tell us twice," T.K. said smiling.

Biyomon looked so happy Sora thought that her partner might cry.

"Alright guys!" Tai called. "Let's get outta' here!"

(D)

_The Black Gear span where it was lodged into the rocky ground, loosening its constraints, ready to strike. The fiery guardian of the mountain plateau grew every nearer. A tall, human shaped figure at least twenty feet tall, fashioned out of living, writhing red and yellow flames. His very presence generated such immense heat that water in the lake steamed constantly and the ground at his feet cracked and bubbled. His eyes were of a pale blue however and his mouth had loose stitches through his upper and lower lips, connecting them together, though still enabling him to open his mouth. _

_The Digimon that was Meramon took another step, and another, searching the ground for where the Black Gear had landed. The Black Gear waited patiently. Meramon took a final step. The Digimon was within striking range._

_The Black Gear launched from the ground. Meramon had a single moment to react before the Black Gear embedded itself within Meramon's stomach. The Black Gear began to spin, carving its way into his body. Meramon roared in pain, blazing white blood spattering the ground at his feet as the Black Gear ate its way into Meramon's body._

_Then it was inside him, the wound closing up behind it. Meramon screamed all the louder however and clutched his head, his palms grinding into his eyes, the flames that made up his body raging wildly out of control, the lake beside him beginning to boil and the ground beneath him started to smoke, as he collapsed in a crumpled heap, screaming in agony. The Black Gear was carrying out its predestined task. Its own malicious thoughts clawing their way into Meramon's own. And then it began to assimilate Meramon's mind._

_Meramon would soon become a simple extension of the Black Gear that now began to take in Meramon's memories and experience. Everything Meramon had been and everything he had ever wanted to be. Everything he was. The Black Gear would take it all and would use Meramon as the vessel to implicate its will. No matter how hard Meramon struggled mentally and physically. In the end, the Black Gear would have its plaything. _

(D)

Sora hadn't know what to expect when the reached Biyomon's home village. Tai had given the best description he could of what the village actually looked like but nothing quite prepared her for what she saw. Buildings only about as tall as they were, with thatched roves and walls made of simple wooden poles, caked in dried mud for extra insulation. In the centre of the village was a stone well with a bucket on a rope standing beside it.

Sora assumed that some of the villages in Africa must look similar to this one. The only difference was the occupants of the village. Yokomon waddled in an excited rush to meet them, squealing with delight at the sight of visitors to their village. They were especially excited when they saw Biyomon. They 'oohed' and 'aahed' at the sight of her.

Biyomon looked close to tears at the sight of her home and embraced her old friends the way a mother would their child. Her friends looked like they were each about to cry as well. Tentomon on the other hand, remained focussed on the important matters at hand.

"All right question?" he asked over the hubbub, landing on the roof of one of the houses, drawing most Yokomon eyes to him. "Would it be at all possible if you could provide us with a drink? I'm afraid we've been walking throughout the day and had little to keep us nourished."

"And what do _they_ drink?" asked one Yokomon, indicating Izzy and the other humans. "What sort of Digimon are they?"

This was chorused by multiple Yokomon across the village. Izzy looked at Tai then cleared his throat.

"Actually we're not Digimon," Izzy said smiling, he was about to continue when Tentomon beat him to it.

"My friend Izzy and company are what is know as a human," Tentomon explained. "They may not look similar to us, but they mean you know harm."

"What's a human?" asked one Yokomon.

"If they're not Digimon how are they in the digital world?" asked another.

Izzy meanwhile had wandered off, inspecting the village. He frowned as he saw each house. They were almost the same height as him, and could easily fit about three Yokomon in each, possibly four in the larger ones. But there was not conceivable way that Tentomon could fit in one of these, let alone a human being.

"There is no way we're all going to fit in here," Izzy said as he returned to the group.

"Relax Izzy," Tai said calmly, "At least the natives here are friendly."

"There so cute and tiny!" Mimi cried happily. "How I'd love to take one home and put it with all my other stuffed animals!"

"There she goes again," Matt said rolling his eyes. "Do you think Mimi hears what we hear? I'm not sure anymore."

"Maybe she's an alien spy?" Izzy suggested. Mimi either ignored these comments or didn't hear them.

As this was happening, Biyomon was walking over to the rest of the group, surrounded by her old friends who looked at her with a look of awe.

"Alright listen guys," she said to her friends in hushed tones. "My friends are tired and hungry. I'd most appreciate it if you could feed and provide shelter for us."

There was silence for a few moments before one of her friends piped up: "Biyomon! Just when did you Digivolve?"

Biyomon smiled when she heard this question.

"When I met Sora," she replied, her eyes twinkling slightly. "We share a special… well… bond. It's kind of magical."

"You don't sound like you used to," one Yokomon pointed out. "Is that how all Biyomon talk?"

Biyomon paused. She didn't really know any other Biyomon so any vocal inflections she must have picked must have come from her Digivolution. Either that or she picked it up from Sora.

"I think I must have picked it up from Sora," Biyomon said at last, as Sora walked closer to hear what Biyomon was saying. "She is a wonderful person and I feel like I've already learnt a lot from her."

Sora smiled at this. Hearing Biyomon talking about her in such a way was shocking and surprising, hearing the way that Biyomon thought of her. It was quiet touching to see that though they had barely known each other for a day, they had already created a firm bond.

"How did you manage to Digivolve?" asked one of the Yokomon suddenly. "Is there something about being around humans that makes it happen?"

"Well," Biyomon said slowly. She didn't know if being around humans made Digivolution. All she knew was _why_ she Digivolved. "Sora needed me," she said at last. "I had to protect her."

This took Sora aback. 'She had to protect _me_?' she thought to herself in confusion. Then suddenly it hit her. 'That's why she's always following me around! And when Tai needed him Agumon Digivolved into Greymon in order to protect him and Gabumon into Garurumon for Matt! They Digivolve for us!'

She smiled at the thought of having her own little guardian angel. Especially one as caring as Biyomon. Biyomon moved away again, surrounded by the chattering Yokomon. Sora was going to follow her when she decided against it. This was Biyomon's home and she was with her friends. Doubtless she would probably want a private conversation.

"That's weird." Sora looked up and saw Tai standing beside her. He was looking at something through his telescope.

"What is it Tai?" Sora asked, following where his telescope was directed. It was the mountain range that they had seen the gear fly towards.

"There's something burning up there," Tai explained slowly. "Something big."

Sora held out her hand and Tai passed her the telescope. There was thick black smoke coiling in great clouds to the sky, with billowing clouds of white steam rising and mixing towards the sky.

"It might be a volcano," Sora suggested offering the telescope back to Tai.

"Guys," said a voice from behind them. Sora and Tai turned to look. Biyomon was standing in the middle of the group of humans and had that twinkle in her eyes to show her joy.

"We're invited to have dinner with the Yokomon," Biyomon said brightly. "They're willing to share their food with all of us."

The group of humans and Digimon all gave a small cheer at this news.

"It will take a while to prepare you dinners," said one Yokomon. "In the meantime, feel free to explore our village."

(D)

'I wonder what they will be serving,' Izzy pondered as he sat against one of the Yokomon house's which was, mercifully, a source of decent shade. Izzy began to wonder about his deepest food desires at this moment in time. 'Ribs in sauce maybe? Or perhaps some salmon in lemon juice? What I wouldn't give for some-'

"Water!" T.K. cried breaking Izzy out of his food based fantasies. Izzy looked up sharply. T.K. was running not to the rough brick well that Tai had seen earlier but towards a more delicately crafted water fountain. The fountain spewed water into a small pool from two jets set into a central dais. Izzy was on his feet and stumbling to the water quickly, suddenly realizing that he was desperate for a drink.

As Izzy reached the fountain, a Yokomon hopped up onto the rim and handed him a small glass. Izzy took it gratefully and plunged the glass into the water and out again, filling it to the brim. Izzy lifted the glass to his lips and downed the water in several large gulps. He hadn't expected much but the tastes he was met with was unlike anything he had every expected to come from water.

"The water here is pumped down from a spring lake on Mihirashi Mountain," she explained to Izzy as he and T.K. plunged their respective glasses into the water for a second drink. "It's the best water you can find on the island."

"Forget the island," T.K. said, his second drink finished. "I wouldn't be surprised if this was the best water in the world."

"Where's Mount Mihirashi?" Izzy asked.

"There," the Yokomon told him, pointing into the desert. Izzy turned to face the direction the Yokomon was pointing in and saw the forest covered mountain that they had spotted earlier. Izzy frowned as he looked at it. The Digital World might not be identical to the real world, but if his geography was right…

"That's a live volcano isn't it?" Izzy pondered.

"Yes but the heat boils away all the germs," the Yokomon explained, "So our water supply is very sterile."

(D)

_Meramon straightened up, his once blue eyes now blazing with white fire. He looked at his hand with a mixture of interest and surprise. He smirked, an evil grin that did not belong on his face. He looked at the water of the lake and gave a disgruntled snort, before roaring with all his might. The fires of his body raged out of control, distorted flares of red and orange flames licking the surface of the water._

_In less than a moment the lake had been vaporised, and the ground Meramon stood on had turned to glass._

(D)

"Hey," Tai said, wiping his brow with the back of his hand. "Is it me or did it suddenly just get even hotter out?"

"It does seem to be warmer," Izzy conceded.

As they spoke, the water stopped pouring form the fountain's spouts and the water in its bowl started to bubble.

"The water's stopped," T.K. observed.

The water in the bowl evaporated in a burst of steam, rising high into the sky as a boiling cloud. The twin spouts of the fountain released super hot jets of boiling steam that seemed to melt the air.

"What just happened?" Tai asked, shocked.

"The water supply must have evaporated," Izzy rationalized.

"The lake is always full of water don't worry," one of the Yokomon said.

Tai looked over to the lake, ignoring the prow of the ship that emerged from the lake's bed beneath the water's surface and jutted out into the open air. As Tai looked, the water in the lake began to boil, tendrils of steam rising off of its surface. Bubbles as tall as Tai was were growing on the water's surface before they popped; sending droplets of boiling water everywhere. The lake surface soon became a writhing mass of huge bubbles, with clouds of steam rising quickly to the sky.

Tai got to his feet and ran to the well in the centre of the village. Next to the well stood a wooden bucket which was tied by a rope. Tai threw the bucket into the well and watched as the rope spiralled into the abyss. Far beneath him, there came the sound of wood striking stone.

"Dry as a bone," Tai whispered. Then he frowned, catching sight of a light down at the bottom of the well. A yellow orange light. And then it rushed up towards Tai with a roar.

Tai leapt back as a column of fire burst from the deeps, scorching the air. Black smoke billowed around the blazing torrent of red and orange. Tai coughed as he got to his feet and staggered away from the burning well.

"Looks like we're all outta water," Tai spluttered.

"What caused all this to happen?" T.K. asked. No one gave an answer straight away.

"What about that flying gear?" Matt said slowly.

"I can only assume that it crashed," Izzy said, trying his best to recall in a much detail as he could the trajectory of the Black Gear. Sora however twigged first.

"It crashed straight into Mount Mihirashi," Sora said with alarm.

"That's the source of the Yokomon's water supply," Biyomon chirped in horror.

"If a gear crashed near the lake on Mount Mihirashi, it could be very damaging to our water supply," one of the Yokomon said in despair.

"Damaging," Tai said, looking to the burning well and the now empty lake. "I doubt a single gear could cause all this damage."

"Even so we can't do very much about it," another Yokomon said. "We don't ever try and climb Mount Mihirashi. Our water supply is protected by a fiery Digimon named Meramon. He is hideously dangerous and doesn't take kindly to trespassers. Even us."

Tai pulled out his mini-telescope and brought it to his eye, turning to the mountain and twiddling with the focus.

"I want another look at that mountain," he murmured. "I wanna see what this Meramon character looks like."

As he looked, a small, golden light appeared near the top of the mountain. The light moved further and further down the mountainside, leaving a golden after trail. This trail spread across in a line. It took a moment for Tai to realise that the golden light was some sort of fire and it had set the forest ablaze.

"There he is," Tai breathed. Tai increased the focus to its highest intensity, straining his eye uselessly to try and catch some glimpse of Meramon.

"You see him?" Matt asked.

"Barely," Tai admitted.

"Well what's he doing?" Matt asked, slightly impatient.

"He's…" Tai suddenly lowered the telescope, a sudden ominous feeling settling over him. "He's coming… He's coming this way."

"What?" cried a Yokomon.

"Meramon never comes down from the mountain," said another Yokomon. "To leave his post would be unacceptable for him."

Tai didn't need to look through a telescope anymore. The golden light that was Meramon was almost blinding in intensity. The fires that rolled up Mount Mihirashi nearly enveloped the entire mountain's forests.

"This is wrong," Biyomon said sadly. "Meramon has never lost control of his powers like this. There must be something terribly wrong with him."

"Well whatever's wrong with him we've got to think of something fast," Matt said. "He's already reached the base of the mountain."

He was right. The golden light that was Meramon had disappeared behind the forest tree line and as the group watched, the tops of the trees burst into flames.

"I've never seen anyone move like that," Tai said, his voice a mixture of horror, and admiration.

"We should retreat," Joe said. "Get as far away from him as possible."

"Out in the desert?" Izzy said, incredulous. "Even if we could outrun him, I don't think we'd last long without proper sustenance."

"What're our other options then?" Joe snapped. "Fight?"

"If it comes to that Joe then yes," Tai said slowly. Joe looked at Tai, dumbfounded.

"How do you propose we stop that?"

"You don't," Tai said, looking at Matt. "_We_ will."

Matt nodded, understanding immediately.

"Gabumon," Matt said, looking to the tree line. Gabumon stepped up beside Matt, his eyes locked onto the now visible glowing shape emerging from the trees that was Meramon.

"You're going to take on Meramon by yourselves?" Sora gasped, shocked.

"Agumon and Gabumon can Digivolve to Greymon and Garurumon," Tai replied smiling confidently. "No matter how you slice it, Meramon is toast."

"So what do we do?" T.K. asked, looking to Matt. "Sit back and watch?"

Matt looked back to his brother and shook his head.

"The village needs to be evacuated," he said. "I don't like the feel of any of this."

"So we run away while you guys fight?" Sora asked. "What if you lose?"

"We _won't_ lose," Tai said, smirking.

Sora looked out across the desert, ignoring all the sudden movement around her as the others began to move the Yokomon out of the village. Meramon was running closer and closer, a line of fire following him as he moved. The sand he trod on blazed white hot, turning to glass in an instant.

"Sora!"

Sora jerked and turned to the source of the voice. Joe was standing a few feet away, Yokomon bobbing away from Meramon around his ankles.

"Come on," he said. "We have to go."

Sora looked back at Tai and Matt who stood side by side, Agumon and Gabumon visibly tensed for the fight. She knew that she couldn't help with this fight. Agumon and Gabumon were the only ones who had managed to Digivolve and if she stayed then she would only get in the way.

(D)

_Meramon felt the sand bubble and burn beneath his feet as he ran. He breathed in deeply, the warm air of the desert a cool breeze to the flaming Digimon. His white eyes leaked flames as he ran towards the Yokomon village, painfully aware of the presence of the human children. He was awash with new sensations but above all, he craved destruction. He wanted everything to burn, burn… BURN._

(D)

Tai swayed slightly on the spot and held a hand to his head. The air felt like it was on fire it was so hot and he hadn't had a drink since he had awoken that morning. Not the best conditions considering he would be in the middle of a heated battlefield very soon. He looked at Matt and could tell that the other boy was thinking something similar.

"Here he comes," Agumon said his voice low.

Tai looked up and saw for the first time what Meramon looked like. He was as tall as Greymon Tai reasoned, and was comprised entirely out of fire. Flames of red yellow and orange leapt and danced out of control all along his body. His lips were loosely stitched together and his eyes were a blazing white. A long black crack was visible on Meramon's stomach.

"He's been wounded by something," Tai said with surprised realization.

"That'll make this all the easier," Gabumon growled. Agumon nodded.

Meramon was slowing a he began to enter the village. As he drew closer to Tai and the little band who stood against him he slowed to walking pace. Tai gulped as he looked up at Meramon, who Tai realized was perhaps even taller than Garurumon is he was standing on Greymon's shoulders. And the heat? It was unbearable; it was like he was standing in the heart of a furnace. He could feel blister popping up all over his skin, either that or he was delirious.

"Well, well," Meramon chuckled. His voice was strange to Tai, like his words were burning in his mouth. When Meramon spoke again, Tai caught sight of a forked tongue made of glowing coal: "Aren't you brave for staying behind to stop me. But then again, bravery is the kindest word for stupidity."

"Why are you doing this?" Agumon asked.

"Why?" Meramon asked, surprised as if it were obvious. "Because I can!" He raised one hand, middle finger resting on thumb. "Just like how I can do this."

Meramon snapped his fingers and a spark flared into life. The spark grew into an orb of yellow fire, Meramon bending and flexing his fingers around it, cultivating it. When it was about the size of a beach ball Meramon opened his hand and allowed it to hover above his palm for a moment before his thrust his open palm at Tai and Matt.

"Roaring Fire!" he screeched. The ball of fire turned in a stream that blazed at Tai and Matt. The two boys dived aside, Agumon and Gabumon leaping backwards. Tai hit the ground hard and scrambled to his feet, only to be hit with the stagnant smell of smoke and fire. Tai looked around him and saw some of the houses had been set ablaze by Meramon's attack.

Tai looked back to Meramon as the Digimon threw fire in Tai's direction. Tai leapt aside once again the flames catching the hem of his shirt on Tai's back. Tai cried out as the flames scolded his skin and he rolled as he hit the ground. As he did so he was overcome with a familiar surge of energy.

He began to crawl to his feet, determined to use some of his newfound energy before it inevitably left him. Standing unsteadily on his feet he began to run as fast as they could carry him, Meramon's flickering laughter ringing in his ears behind him. He glanced over his shoulder and saw Agumon fire a sphere of flame at Meramon's chest, seemingly unaffected by the fires and smoke all around him.

Meramon however seemed equally unaffected by the small ball of fire the erupted against his chest. He chuckled darkly as the orange fires of Agumon's attack were absorbed into the greater flames that were Meramon's chest.

Tai stumbled, suddenly drained. He collapsed onto his knees and clutched his chest, coughing madly. Behind him he heard the familiar growl of Greymon as the now larger Digimon stepped towards Meramon.

"Oh now _this_ is interesting!" cackled Meramon. "Come on! Show me what you've got!"

"Nova Blast!" Greymon roared. The ground shook with the force of Greymon's attack as the white hot sphere erupted into being.

Meramon thrust his hands out as the ball of fire drew close to him. He slid backwards across the sand and his face wrinkled up in effort. He flexed and bent his fingers, twisting his hands, grinding his palms into the inferno. As Tai looked on in horror, Meramon slowly drew Greymon's attack into himself. He watched as the flames of Greymon's attack made Meramon grow in size, becoming twice the height of the other Digimon.

(D)

As soon as they were outside the Yokomon village the sun seemed to make it twice as hot. Sora wiped her brow and flicked the sweat away. She followed slowly behind the long line of Yokomon, who were nervously whispering amongst themselves, some of them were even weeping.

The other members of the group weren't fairing any better in terms of moral. Sora often caught Digimon and human alike throwing nervous glances back at the Yokomon village. Sora herself couldn't stop herself casting her eyes back every couple of minutes.

Then the explosion filled the air.

Sora whipped around and saw fire roaring into life. Even from her current distance she could vaguely see the shape of a huge, human-like figure made entirely of fire.

Yokomon began to wail in despair as they saw their home set ablaze. Sora was frantically scanning the village for Tai and Matt, even though she knew they would be too small to see from this distance. The entire party had frozen solid, looking at the chaos Meramon had wrought.

"I can't take this!" a small voice cried.

Sora looked to see a Yokomon hoping madly towards the village, tears streaming down its face. Sora stepped out to stop the tiny Digimon when Biyomon rushed out and caught it in one feathered arm. The Yokomon cried and struggled but Biyomon soothed her with quiet noises. The small scene was heartbreaking to watch, Sora forcing herself to look away.

She was sorry she did.

Meramon seemed to have doubled in size and was now easily visible, towering over the comparatively miniscule Greymon. She saw Garurumon leap out of the flaming village and latch onto Meramon's arm, fangs digging into the fiery flesh. Meramon barked in pain and flung Garurumon off of him.

"This is bad," T.K. whispered.

"We have to go back and help them," one Yokomon said.

"How?" asked another. "What can we do?"

Sora couldn't tear her eyes of Meramon and the devastation he delivered. She heard a small sniffle by her feet and turned to look. Her throat went dry.

It was the Yokomon who had attempted to run back to the village, the one Biyomon had comforted. Except there was no bird Digimon beside her to offer comfort. Sora looked up to see Biyomon racing across the desert, back to her village. Sora was frozen for a full second before she began running.

"BIYOMON!" she screamed, charging after her smaller friend. She heard other calling for her to come back but she ignored them. Not until she had Biyomon with her.

(D)

For the second time in as many minutes, Matt was shoved to the ground hard. The attack that might have killed him sailed over his head and crashed into one of the Yokomon homes, crushing the already blazing building into kindling. Matt looked at Tai, the one who had forced him down, lying in the dirt beside him.

"We're just getting in the way!" Matt shouted over the noise. "We should go!"

Tai shook his head defiantly.

"We can't leave them here!" he yelled back, jerking his head to Garurumon and Greymon.

"We can't stay here!" Matt argued, indicating the colossal Meramon.

Tai opened his mouth to reply, looked up and rolled. Matt looked up too and rolled desperately in the opposite direction as a ball of fire dropped onto the spot where they had been lying. Matt felt the heat race up his sides in sweltering waves. He looked back to where he last saw Tai and saw the other boy climbing to his feet unsteadily. Tai looked in Matt's direction and gave him the thumbs up, though he looked as though he was about to pass out. Matt couldn't exactly blame him, Tai looked as bad as he felt.

Matt forced himself to his feet as well and swayed dangerously on the spot. He coughed a deep, wracking motion from deep within his chest, the smoke all around finally getting to him. Something brushed past his leg. He glanced down, but whatever it had been was now gone.

A huge wall of heat rammed into Matt. He staggered back, aware that Meramon had most likely taken another step closer to him. He turned and began to stagger away from Meramon, his vision blurry as his eyes began to tear up due to the smoke. Behind him he heard something large hitting the ground, followed by a grunt of pain. He hoped that it was Meramon but given how this fight was going so far, that seemed unlikely. Then he heard Meramon speak.

"Well, well," he chuckled. "What do we have here?"

"Meramon you have to stop this!" cried a familiar voice that was neither Greymon, nor Garurumon.

"Oh but why would I want to do that?" Meramon scoffed. "I'm having so much fun."

"Meramon don't you remember? We're your friends!"

"I have no use for your petty friendship now," Meramon growled. Matt looked back through the smoke and fire to see Meramon swat his huge hand at something in a vicious backhand slap. The something screamed and tumbled end over end in the air before it righted itself.

"Alright if that's the way you want it!" it shouted back at Meramon. "Spiral Twister!"

Matt's eyes widened as he realised that it was Biyomon who had come back to help fight against Meramon. He watched as a spiral of green fire cut through the orange and struck Meramon on the chest. The larger Digimon merely shrugged the attack off with a bark of laughter.

"That all you got?" he laughed, swatting her aside once more with a back hand that sent Biyomon crashing into a Yokomon house.

"Biyomon!"

Matt winced at the cry that came from behind him. He turned, seeing Sora rush past him. Obviously she had come to aid her partner. Unfortunately she had also attracted some unwanted attention.

As Sora raced through the burning village to Biyomon's side, Meramon heard her cry of anxiety and looked at her. He smiled lazily and summoned fire in his hand. With a lazy flick of the wrist he sent the ball of fire flying at Sora.

Sora looked up as Meramon threw fire in her direction. For a moment she was paralysed. Her whole body was overwhelmed with a crushing sense of fear. This feeling of terror was then, quite suddenly, quashed by a surge of energy. Sora instinctively dived aside, the ball of fire missing her by inches. She landed heavily on the ground, bruised but alive.

Still full of the strange energy that overwhelmed her, Sora scrambled to her feet and raced to where Biyomon lay. The small bird Digimon looked to be in some pain, lying on the broken and splintered wood in the middle of such a raging fire. As Sora reached out to pick Biyomon up, the energy she had felt vanished. She felt drained and nearly collapsed to her knees.

Biyomon sat upright. Her eyes seemed sharper than before, and she was quivering from head to toe. And she also appeared to be growing. Her feathers were changing from pink and blue to orange and gold. Her beak was becoming longer, more like a reptilian snout. Long, pointed fangs grew from the end of her beak and the finger like digits at the end of her wings regressed, her wingspan growing far larger than before. Her red talons became razor sharp and gold in colour and the silver band on Biyomon's ankle snapped off.

Biyomon's Digivolved form towered over Sora, though she was still not as tall as Meramon. She growled and beat her wings in one powerful stroke, taking her airborne. Meramon turned to face this new pho as she soared into the sky. He laughed as she began to circle overhead.

"What's the matter Birdramon!" called Meramon. "Afraid of me? Come back down here and fight!"

He conjured fire in his hand and threw it at Birdramon. Birdramon dodged aside and dived at Meramon, before pulling up and beating her wings with such force that the fires around the village were instantly snuffed out. Meramon growled and threw another fireball at Birdramon. The other Digimon dodged once more and flew at Meramon, racking her sharp talons at his chest before taking off higher into the sky.

"Last chance to stop this Meramon!" she called her voice much deeper than Biyomon's. Meramon barked.

"Stop?" he cried incredulous. "I'm having the time of me _life_!"

On the word 'life', he threw a much larger ball of flame at Birdramon. She merely beat her wings and sent the ball of fire spiralling into the desert. Sora couldn't hear what Birdramon said next but she could guess: "So be it."

She spread her wings out as far as they would go for the longest time, before she folded them, screeching, "Meteor Wing!"

A hail of fire balls flew from where Birdramon's wings met, all aimed at Meramon. Meramon took a shocked step back as the first of the fires struck him. The rapid attack and the speed at which the fires dispersed after the struck Meramon rendered it impossible for him to absorb the flames. Several struck the long black scar on Meramon's stomach. This seemed to hurt him the most. He doubled up in pain and roared in agony.

Birdramon folded her wings once more and fell into a dive, aiming straight at Meramon's chest. As she drew close and her speed reached terminal velocity, she began to glow. Her body shrinking back into Biyomon. As the process completed, Biyomon dived straight at Meramon's wound, her beak slamming straight into Meramon's stomach.

The other Digimon screamed in pain and fell back. White blood spattered onto the ground as Biyomon fell, Meramon staggering, shrinking, his palms pressed into his eyes. He crumpled into a ball, screaming his agony into the ground. And then something burst out of his back. A black something the rocketed into the sky. It stopped its upward momentum for a moment and simply hung there, before it shattered into fragments.

For several moments everything was still. Eventually even Meramon's screams became quiet whimpers. Sora walked slowly to Biyomon's side, kneeling down and wrapping her in a tight hug.

"Don't you ever do anything like that again Biyomon," she whispered firmly.

She felt Biyomon nuzzle up to her and smile. Sora couldn't help but smile back. Concerned whispers began to seep into the village as the Yokomon's and the rest of the team crept back into the ruined village. When they saw Sora and the others, when they saw how Meramon was curled up, the tension was released in a single collective exhalation of air. A particularly brave Yokomon waddled up to Meramon, very, very slowly.

"Meramon?" he asked slowly.

Meramon uncurled slowly, rolled onto his back. As he rolled everyone watching gasped as they saw the brutal hole in Meramon's back. The edges were jagged, and were even now being covered by a black and red charcoal substance, akin to a scab for a human wound. As Meramon rolled onto his back he gasped and moaned in pain. His eyes opened after a few moments and were back to being a sky blue colour.

"Meramon, are you okay?" the Yokomon asked.

"I'll live," he mumbled. Tai raised an eyebrow. Before Meramon's voice had had a blazing touch to it. Now it seemed to fire in his voice had died down.

"Why did you attack our village Meramon?" Yokomon asked. Meramon's eyes widened in shock.

"I what?" he asked aghast, pulling himself as quickly to his feet as he could. He surveyed the damage to the village that he had caused in his rampage with horror in his eyes.

"I did this?" he asked.

"You didn't seem like yourself Meramon," Biyomon spoke up. "You were acting very strange."

Meramon placed a hand to his face, shame written in his features.

"You mean you don't remember anything?" Biyomon asked.

"The last thing I remember I was attacked by something," Meramon said. "Then I woke up here."

Meramon looked around at the devastation he'd caused once again, looking if possible, even worse.

"Did I really do all this?" he whispered. Biyomon nodded sadly. Meramon placed a hand to his head and turned away slowly.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled, slowly staggering away back through the desert. Biyomon could hear the tall Digimon mumble apology after apology.

"Poor guy," Gommamon said quietly.

"He'll be fine," Biyomon said. "Meramon always bounces back."

"You sure about that?" Tai asked, holding a weary looking Agumon.

"Positive," Biyomon said smiling slightly. She then looked at the village and then her friends.

"You can rebuild it right?" Biyomon asked.

"It's been through worse," one Yokomon said. "We can rebuild it in a few days."

"That's good," Biyomon sighed, relieved.

"The food store seems okay!" one Yokomon called.

"We still owe you dinner," another Yokomon said. "It's the least we can do for helping our village and Meramon."

The group looked at each other for a moment.

"It has been a long day," Sora said smiling.

(Okay this episode has been a _LONG_ time coming. I just keep getting distracted.)


	5. Kabuterimon's Electro Shocker

**`Digimon Adventure**

**X**

**Chapter Five: Kabuterimon's Electro Shocker**

Although it wasn't exactly sunny, the heat outside was palpable. The group of humans and Digimon making their way slowly across one of the flat planes of the island were weary and hot. The barren, featureless plane of grassland was only punctuated by the occasional tree. The sky was a slate coloured grey. It had been several days since they had left the Yokomon village behind. Needless to say they were missing the company of the Yokomon, even if the climate was no better.

Sora looked up and around in a tired, befuddled daze, trying to discern something that wasn't wasteland in her vision. In her hazy mind Sora was the first to spot something that had been bugging her for a while. So stopped, blinked, rubbed her eyes and looked around again. There was no mistaking what she saw.

"We've past this way before," she said despondently.

"You mean we've been walking in circles for who knows how long?" Joe asked, throwing his hands up into the air.

"If that's the reality, I suggest we take five… hours," Izzy mumbled, collapsing onto his knees and curling up.

"Looks that way," Tai sighed. "Break time everybody."

Everyone let out collective sighs of relief and collapsed onto the ground in various positions of exhaustion. For a short while, no one spoke. Everyone was merely content to lie in silence, recovering their energy for the long walk that they would inevitably face. After a while conversation began to start. The most pressing was of course the supply of food. While of course they did still have supplies left in the 'EMERGENCY FOOD' bag that Joe carried around, that was now their only source of food. They had of course taken the offering of food from the Yokomon village but that had barely lasted them the few days they had been walking. If they didn't find food soon, they would most likely starve.

Izzy broke off from the rest of the group's conversations and instead sat up, legs and set his laptop up. Matt looked lazily over at Izzy and gave a tired smile.

"Check out Izzy," he said tiredly. "I'll bet he's trying to talk to the aliens."

"Maybe he's asking them to beam him up," Tai murmured quietly, the humour of Izzy's alien theory having lost its merit with him.

Izzy ignored these comments and instead paid more attention to his laptop. He frowned as he saw that, as per every other time he had checked, the device was still out of commission. He gave a despondent sigh and sagged where he sat. He lamely tapped a few keys, a faint belief that something would happen. So it was indeed a shock to him when the device began to whir softly. The screen lit up and the boot up process began. Izzy's face split open in a wide grin, filled with elation at this development.

This happy revelation was quickly dispelled as a large symbol flashed up in the centre of the screen. A depleted battery in a very alarming red. Izzy had seen that symbol many a time and it meant one thing. The device needed a recharge.

Izzy sighed again and closed the laptop down, before flopping back on the ground.

For a while that was all they did. Lie on the ground in semi-silence. It was a while therefore for Tai to notice the only thing visible on the horizon. He sat up abruptly and cast his gaze out towards the distant skyline. A passing break in the bleak clouds revealed what he originally though to be part of the sky to be a coiling cloud of smoke, rising from something just beyond the horizon.

"Do you guys see that smoke over there?" Tai asked, getting to his feet.

Matt looked up at him and raised an eyebrow. He cast his eyes lazily in the direction Tai was facing and frowned.

"What do you suppose it's coming from?" Matt asked.

"I'll check it out," Tai said, walking towards the coiling smoke.

"Wait for me Tai," Agumon cried, rolling to his feet and racing after Tai. Tai paused and smiled as he allowed his Digimon partner to catch up with him. When Agumon was securely by his side, they walked off in to the distance.

Izzy watched them go until they became a single dot in the distance, and then they vanished from his sight. He lay back down with the rest of the group and rested.

The discomfort in the heat got more bearable as the day went on. The temperature dropped every so often and a cool breeze wafted over the flatlands. Minutes stretched into hours and still they lay there, waiting for Tai and Agumon to return.

When some of the team suggested searching for Tai some two hours later, it was with genuine concern. It was Izzy though, the one who had seen the duo out of sight, who first caught sight of them again. They were drawing closer much faster however than when they had left. It didn't take them nearly as long to return as to leave.

The group rose to meet the duo, curious as to the haste with which they returned and the nature of what they discovered at their destination. Tai and Agumon returned to the group panting, clearly having run from wherever they had just been.

"So, what did you see?" asked Matt, as Tai rested his hands on his knees, breathing heavy. It took a few moments for Tai to recover and straighten up.

"You are not going to believe this," he said.

(X)

It was a factory. A great towering expanse of dark, filthy grey metal sprawled across the bottom of the valley the flatlands fell into. The grey metal smokestacks towered high up above the rest of the metal structure, belching thick grey smoke into the sky. The group looked down into the valley at the facility, in mixed curiosity and amazement.

"It's a factory," Joe said somewhat needlessly.

"How's there a factory in this world?" Matt asked. "I mean, how does it work without people to operate it?"

"How is it even here!" Joe cried, "I mean, who built it and why?"

"I think there's only way we're going to find that out," Izzy said slowly.

"I hear that," Tai agreed.

"You really think that's the best course of action?" Sora said.

"Well it could be that this place is our best bet to get home," Izzy suggested. "And even if it isn't there could be people in there."

"I hope there's a manufacturer's outlet store," Mimi said wistfully. The humans among their little group turned to look at her. She looked confused at their reactions. "What? They always have great deals."

(X)

The inside of the factory was surprisingly much cleaner than the exterior. The walls were shiny, spotless even and gave off a reflective sheen from the electric light bulbs that hung overhead. Their footsteps echoed off the metal walkways, and the light around them was nearly blinding.

It took them some time to find something over than metal corridors but find it they did. Tai pulled back a large metal sliding door to reveal a construction line. A long, metal and black rubber conveyor belt, bearing pieces of chrome metal down the length of the room. The belt stopped periodically to allow large machines to add new pieces to the existing components.

"What do you suppose it is that they're making?" Tai asked, approaching the belt, looking more closely at one of the metallic creations.

"Beats me," Matt muttered, also leaning over the conveyor belt. "Maybe pieces for aircraft of something?"

Tai nodded thoughtfully when a loud grating noise rose up from the other end of the room. He looked to see another sliding door had opened at the other end of the room. A lone Digimon hovered into the room, unaware of the small groups existence.

It was about the same size as Agumon and the others. Its body was comprised of single golden gear. Its face was placed over its body with a more jagged, grey gear. Its light maroon eyes stared out of jagged holes in its face and its hands were large cogs with finger like notches. The metal of his body that had once been glistening and pristine, was no ragged and dirty.

The group looked at it for some time before it finally seemed to realize that it was no longer alone. It turned slowly to face the mixed group, its red eyes staring with slight surprise. An awkward silence followed. The Digimon was the one who broke the silence.

"Can I help you?" he asked, a jagged hole opening in his face to serve as a mouth. His voice was curious. It had a steely edge to it but it was devoid of hostility.

"We were just looking around," Tai said, rather dumbly.

"Well you're the first I'll give you that," the Digimon said, hovering down the conveyor belt towards them. "Most people forgot about this place a while back. This place used to do business right across the island and beyond."

"What sort of business?" Izzy asked.

"This place built everything from screws to radio towers," the Digimon said. "Biggest brand across the Digital World."

"What happened?" Matt asked.

"Who knows?" the Digimon sighed. "One day the market just collapsed. The orders just stopped rolling in and the workforce disappeared. Just me and the old guy left now." He paused for a moment as he thought. He then said: "Name's Hagurumon by the way."

Each of the group introduced themselves to the new Digimon one by one. Hagurumon seemed rather unsurprised by the fact that there were non-Digimon in the group.

"Nice to someone else other than the old guy," Hugumon said quietly. "Even if they aren't... _normal_."

"Thanks, I guess," Izzy muttered.

"Can I ask a question?" Joe asked. Hagurumon nodded. "If this place is out of business, why are the machines still running?"

"Ahh, the generator's still running," Hagurumon said, looking at the machines. "The old guy doesn't like the generator to be turned off. He prefers to pretend that everything's fine."

"Why?" Sora asked.

"This place was his life," Hagurumon replied. "He had nowhere else to go. After this place shut down he just kept it running, hoping like everything would go back the way it was."

"How sad," Mimi said.

"Your pity is touching," Hagurumon said.

"Wait," Izzy said, stepping forward. "How come you stayed behind? You're clearly not being forced to stay here."

Hagurumon shrugged: "Someone has to look after this place, and the old guy for that matter."

"So where is 'the old guy'?" Matt asked.

"Oh he's probably wandering around upstairs talking about order forms," Hagurumon muttered. "You're welcome to look for him if you want. See if you can talk some sense into him."

"Actually could you tell me if there is a place where I could charge this?" Izzy said, showing the Digimon his laptop. Hagurumon floated up to Izzy and peered at the device with its strange eyes. He hummed thoughtfully before straightening up again.

"I think we'll have to take it up to the generator," Hagurumon said.

Hagurumon floated down the conveyor belt. Izzy stepped after him but felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up to see Matt standing there.

"I wouldn't advise going alone," he muttered. "We just met this guy."

Izzy thought for a moment before nodding in agreement.

"We should split up I think," he said softly. "Into two groups."

"No," Joe said. "How're we going to find each other again?"

A loud clatter drew everyone's attention. There was a colossal bang from somewhere above. Hagurumon looked up, alarmed.

"God, what's happened now?" he muttered. He looked at the group with a slightly apologetic eye. "Would it be possible for some of you to check out what happened? Only the generator's downstairs."

Izzy looked at Joe. "Looks like we'll have to be in two groups now."

"If that's the case I'm with T.K," Matt said forcefully. "We'll go with you Izzy."

"Well I'm coming with you too," Mimi said. "I'm not going up there to who knows what?"

Tai looked at Hagurumon then straight up.

"I'll check out whatever made that noise," he muttered.

"I'll go with you," Sora said. They both looked at Joe. He folded his arms and looked sulky but stepped to stand with them. Hagurumon smiled.

"Splendid," he said. "If you find anything out of order please let me know."

"How?" Tai asked.

"Good point," Hagurmon said, before he led Izzy and his small group out of the room.

(X)

It took a while for Tai and the others to reach the upper-levels of factory where the noise had come from. All around the area they found themselves in, was the sound of machines in motion, but closer by, was silence. All the inner-workings of machines jerked in place, frozen by some unseen force or factor.

"Something really bad must have happened," Tai muttered looking around.

"Yeah," Sora breathed.

It was a further while before they managed to retrace the source of the malfunction. It was a much smaller room than the ones they had been in before. Hanging from the ceiling were metal girders, suspended on steal cables. One entire wall was covered in jerking gears, fighting against some sort of obstruction. The obstruction was obvious after a few moments of searching.

A large, mechanical being was caught under the gears. It was human-like in shape, from what they could see, as his legs were caught under the gears. However, the group could clearly see the creature had seen better days. The metallic parts were rough and unfinished. One its metal forearms was gone, revealing knotted and pale pink flesh. Its head was encased in a skull-like metal helmet. Its mouth and cheeks were unprotected however and its eyes were closed, screwed up in pain.

"I guess this must be the old guy," Tai said.

"Its more than just an old guy," Gomammon said. "It's Andromon."

"Who?" Joe asked.

"He's a very advanced and powerful Digimon," Gomammon explained. "No one's seen him in years though."

"The poor thing," Biyomon said. "He must have been conducting maintenance and got caught under the gears."

"Well we gotta help get him out," Sora said.

"How do you propose that?" Joe asked.

"We'll have to stop the gears somehow and then drag him out," Tai suggested.

"And how do we stop the gears?" Joe asked.

"Like this," Gomammon said, loping off to a large grey lever and pulled it. At once the gears stopped jerking and Andromon relaxed. "Let's get him out of there."

Each of the group grabbed part of Andromon and pulled him inch by inch out of the machinery. Eventually Andromon was freed from under the mechanism. Tai looked at the rest of him and wrinkled his nose in distaste.

Andromon's right leg was striped of all its metal casing, revealing the flesh and wiring beneath. But that wasn't the worse part. The flesh was ripped and torn open. A large, ugly gaping hole was cut into what little flesh remained beneath the metal. The wound was leaking a blue-black fluid Tai suspected to be blood.

"Damn," Tai whispered. Joe knelt down next to leg and gave it a thorough examination.

"I'm not sure about Digimon anatomy," he said after he examined the wound, "But I don't think its anything severe."

"Do you reckon we should find Hagurumon?" Tai asked.

"I think we need to make sure whether or not he's alright first," Sora said leaning over Andromon's head. She placed her hand on Andromon's shoulder, like a caring mother would. "Andromon? Can you hear us?"

Andromon opened his eyes. His eyeballs were pure white and glazed over. One had a small web of cracks near the bottom. After a few moments, a pair of deep brown irises appeared in Andromon's eyes and the glaze covering them turned scarlet. One black clawed hand lashed out and wrapped around Sora's ankle. She cried out as Andromon stood up in a single second, reaching his full, terrifying height.

(X)

The corridor that they walked along to the generator was dark and dusty. It was clearly underused and forgotten. Hagurumon kept on muttering about how the factory used to be before it fell into disrepair. Izzy, listened intently whilst the others looked around nervously. Mimi, was more than likely looking out for spiders and other small vermin.

"Of course the generator never really needed maintenance," Hagurumon said. "This corridor was just in case of emergencies."

"What sort of emergencies?" Izzy asked.

"Well there was always the probability that the generator overloaded," Hagurumon said, a slight quake to his voice. "That only ever happened once though. That was years before I came here. What a mess that was though. The whole place had to be practically built from the ground up all over again."

"Wonderful," Izzy muttered, a touch a genuine fear in his voice.

"Nothing like that has happened in years," Hagurumon reassured. He looked up and turned to face one wall. "Here we are."

He pressed his hands on two points on the wall and a section the size of a door slide up down into the floor. Haguramon floated inside and the small group followed. A series of old faded lights flickered on, throwing shafts of light through the swirling dust and onto the aged floor. The space however was huge and was completely dominated by a large cylindrical object in the centre.

A giant battery.

A series of thick metal cables and wires descended from the far off ceiling and coiled down, wrapping around the positive nub at the top of the battery. Some of the floor panels beneath the battery were missing revealing more wires coiling up and connected to the negative flat of the bottom of the battery.

"Whoah," Izzy breathed, stepping closure to the huge device. "Now a battery like that could power my laptop forever."

"That's how it was designed," Hagurmon said proudly. "She was designed to keep running forever and ever. Of course she doesn't run on common fuels, no sirey."

"What's it powered by?" Izzy asked.

"Let me show you," Hagurumon said.

(X)

Tai took several shocked steps back. He would've thought Andromon would be grateful to them for getting him out of his struggle. Instead he had turned on Sora. For a moment, Andromon was silent, his red tinted eyes swivelling over the room, jumping from face to face. His irises expanded and contracted as he glared at each group member. At last he spoke.

"Intruder's identified," he drawled, his voice metallic and simulated. "Beginning offensive protocol."

He raised his other hand high before he swatted at Tai's head. He dived aside just in time, as Andromon's massive fist narrowly missed colliding with him. Andromon straightened up, Sora still clutched by her ankle. She grunted and kicked at Andromon's arm. Her foot hit the metal with a heavy clang.

Andromon looked at her before flinging Sora across the room. She cried out in fear, as Biyomon dived to catch her. Biyomon mistimed her dive and Sora ended up landing on her Digimon. Andromon looked at Sora, before glancing at Tai and the others. Tai was in a blantant fighting cough and Agumon had his clawed hands up, ready to attack if need be.

"Optical sensors detect hostility," Andromon surmised. "Desist at once and prepare for annihilation."

"Any ideas Tai?" Agumon asked. Tai's eyes flickered up to the metal girders and an idea sparked in his brain.

"Aim for those cables up there," Tai said, nodding to the ceiling.

Agumon caught the gesture and nodded himself.

"Pepper Breath!" he cried. He spat a burst of fire above Andromon's head. The blazing flames coiled around the metal cables, turning them red hot. The metal began to stretch like rubber, then snapped. Tai pushed Agumon and Joe back as the metal girders dropped, silent and lethal. They smashed into Andromon's shoulders with an almighty crash and forced the robotic Digimon to the floor, pinned by a tonne or two of metal.

"Damage report," Andromon groaned. "Excessive pressure causing issue with mobility."

"Let's get out of here," Tai said breathlessly. "We need to find Hagurumon."

"Agreed," Joe said.

(X)

Hagurumon opened a panel on the side of the battery. The hatch slid open to reveal the space beyond. He, Izzy and the rest stepped within. The Battery was hollow. The inner walls were coloured in yellow pink and blue. A bright light shone from above. In rising rings around the inside of the battery were combinations of strange, code-like symbols. The symbols seemed to resonate and hum with an unearthly power.

"Wow," Izzy muttered, looking around the space.

"Yep," Hagurumon said. He seemed to buzz with the same energy as the surrounding room, a small smile breaking over his jagged mouth. "This entire factor is run of these codes."

"It's so beautiful," Mimi whispered.

"You said it," Palmon muttered.

"What's that sound?" T.K. asked.

"The energy of these codes is stronger than we actually thought," Hagurumon explained. "Most of it is used to power the factory but what's left just hangs in the air in this room. The symbols make that noise and give off strange lights sometimes."

"So where can I charge this?" Izzy asked, looking at Hagurumon and holding his laptop. Hagurumon's smile broadened.

"It should be charging already," he said.

Izzy opened his laptop and stared at the screen. And yes, the battery symbol on his laptop screen was slowly been filled up. That was quickly replaced with the glowing screen of Izzy's desktop.

"Prodigious!" he cried happily. Hagurumon smiled, until a loud crash came from above.

"What in the Digi World is going on up there?" he wondered aloud. "If the old guy's broken anything I swear to God.."

He left the statement hanging there. Izzy chuckled to himself and looked at his laptop. He frowned. A strange window had opened up on his laptop. In it were the strange symbols that were all around him. Except now beside each of them, they were represented as computer code. Izzy's eyes widened at the possibility of uncovering what the code meant.

"Prodigious," he whispered to himself, sitting down and typing on the various keys.

"What are you doing now Izzy?" Tentomon asked.

"This is just speculation here, but I believe these symbols are all just made up of computer code," Izzy said. He frowned as he saw how complex some of these codes became.

"A very complex code indeed," he muttered, leaning back against the wall. He rubbed his sleeve against the wall and accidentally erased part of a symbol. Almost instantaneously, the lights went out.

(X)

Tai, Joe, Sora and there Digimon froze as the lights died above there heads.

"Who turned out the lights?" Tai demanded, looking wildly left and right in the total darkness.

"I can't see a thing," Sora whispered, her voice laced with fear.

"The corridor was straight right?" Joe asked, his voice trembling.

Tai gulped. Navigating this factory was hard enough, but in the dark, with a potentially hostile Digimon after you? Not his idea of a picnic.

"Shh," he heard Agumon whispered. "Do you hear that?"

Tai strained his ears but could hear nothing but silence.

"Yeah," whispered Biyomon, her voice wobbling.

Still Tai could hear nothing.

"It's getting closer," Gomamon murmured.

And now Tai could hear it. The sound of metal feet hitting metal floor. A heavy something was walking there way and, if he was hearing right, with a serious limp.

"I seriously hope that isn't Andromon," Sora whispered.

"Then whaddya say we get out of here before we find out?" Tai muttered.

"I'm for that," Joe whispered back. None of them moved.

"Or we could just stand here frozen while the monster gets us," Tai hissed.

This spurred the group into action. Together they began to tiptoe their way down the corridor. They were making slow progress however, and the sound of those metal footsteps was getting louder and louder.

"Is anyone going to tell me why we're tiptoeing instead of running for our lives?" Joe hissed loudly.

"Nocturnal vision activated," growled a voice from behind them. "Intruders identified. Exceeding physical attack range. Beginning alternative tactics."

The groups broke into a run as a strange whirring sound from behind them started. Tai's head was filled with images of horror movies, where the monster or bad guy began chasing after the good guys with chainsaws and cutting them open.

"Lightning Blade!" Andromon roared.

A light came from behind them. Tai glanced back and saw a crescent beam of lightning flying there way, spinning in the air like a boomerang. Tai realised in an instant there weren't going to outrun it. He put hands on Sora's and Joe's backs and dived, pushing them all to the floor as the beam if lightning sailed overhead.

(X)

"What happened?" cried Mimi.

The light above them had gone dark but them symbols were glowing with a strange blue light. Hagurumon looked over at Izzy and sighed, floating over to him.

"You deleted part of the program by accident," he explained, pushing Izzy forward so he could see the part of the symbol Izzy had erased.

"Hold on a second," he said. He replaced the missing symbol and the lights across the factory came to life once more. The various machines that had fallen silent came whirring back to life.

"Now that that's taken care of, who wants to see the rest of the factory?" Hagurumon called as he turned around.

"That's rather mysterious," Izzy muttered as Hagurumon floated away to speak with the others.

"And what is so mysterious about it?" Tentomon asked.

"Most batteries are driven by an acidic chemical reaction which produces their current," Izzy explained as he was typing. "But this one doesn't operate like that. It runs off of these symbols, which, when combined in this very specific pattern generate their own current independently. It's like they're somehow creating their own independent energy supply, in complete contrast to all laws of physics I know."

"What do you mean by that Izzy?" Tentomon asked. Izzy stopped typing and looked at him.

"Energy cannot be created or destroyed," Izzy explained, "Only changed."

"I see," Tentomon said, nodding. "So what does this have to do with the battery?"

"As far as I am aware," Izzy said thoughtfully, "There are no existing energy supplies connecting to these symbols for energy to changed into the electrical energy that this factory operates on."

"And what does that mean in plain English for those of us who don't have the intelligence of a genius," Tentomon asked.

"Give me a nano here," Izzy requested.

"I'll give you three."

Izzy smiled before saying, "I'll bet these codes have got some of the answers that we've been looking for... hopefully including the way to get home..."

(X)

The return of light did little to raise Tai's spirits, considering that there was a two tonne giant chasing after them. Andromon didn't move faster than a walk but the steps he took were more than enough to keep pace with the small group of humans and Digimon.

They reached a catwalk over a set of large, vats, filled with bubbling metal. The heat from the cauldrons was unbearable and Tai felt sweat pouring down his face and arms under a matter of seconds. Andromon, being made of metal, probably didn't have such concerns.

"Temperature readings increasing," Andromon stated. "Targets maintaining distance. Activating alternative offensive capabilities."

Here he stopped walking and raised his black metal hand. The hand span rapidly, creating a high pitched whirring sound. Within a few seconds the hand had become a blurry spike.

"Lightning Blade!" Andromon roared, raising his arm high and swiping it down, creating a second crescent shaped beam of energy.

"Hit the deck!" Tai yelled.

For the second time that day the group dived to the floor and the beam of energy span over their heads.

"Hear me intruders," Andromon growled stamping towards them. "Andromon shall exact his vengeance."

"Vengeance?" Tai yelled, "We're the ones who helped you remember?"

Andromon paused. The blue glaze over his eyes flickered and he held a hand to his head. He shook his head and the glaze disappeared for a moment.

"Where... am I?" he whispered. The glaze returned and Andromon looked up again. "Destroy the intruders," he growled.

Tai gulped and looked around for something to help them. He spotted a crane next to the catwalk. He smiled as he saw that the cockpit for the crane had been left open. This was something that could be useful. He got to his feet and ducked under the barrier for the catwalk, holding his hands on the railing.

"Tai what are you doing?" Sora cried.

"Improvising!" Tai yelled back as he jumped at the crane. He clung to the open door before swinging into the driver's seat.

"Alright you hunk of scrap metal!" Tai yelled as he turned the engine on. "Let's see what you're made of!"

"Would you please stop taunting the deranged android?" Joe yelled.

Tai ignored him, instead pulling two levers, swinging the crane and its hook around. As luck would have it, the hook was at the perfect altitude to snag on Andromon's back. Tai pulled a third, red lever and the hook rose, taking a confused Andromon with it.

"Ground contact interrupted!" Andromon cried. "Altitude readings abnormal!"

"Nice thinking Tai!" Sora called as she got to her feet.

"Thanks," Tai called back as he leapt to the cat walk again. "Now how about we go find Hagurumon?"

(X)

"I admire the way you work while your friends are having fun," Tentomon said to Izzy. "Don't you ever feel sort of, left out?"

"Not at all," Izzy responded calmly.

"So you would rather spend your time with puzzles than with people?" Tentomon asked. Izzy stopped working and smiled at him.

"Precisely," Izzy said smiling. "After all what could be more fun than breaking a cryptogram that nobody else could figure out?"

"I can think of a lot of things actually," Tentomon replied. "Funnily enough being in a small room with only one exit isn't on that list but that's just me."

"I'm merely trying to determine how we all came here, how we got to this strange place," Izzy explained. "Plus, I'd like to learn more about you Digimon, perhaps maybe prove or disprove one or two theories."

"What is it that you're theorising about?" Tentomon asked thoughtfully. "What's the big mystery? I am who I am, and I can't think of any of us Digimon who want to hide anything from you humans."

"Really?" Izzy asked, fascinated.

"I can't help but notice Izzy but you seem to have some sort of preoccupation with who you are," Tentomon said. "Something I can't really understand. Perhaps it has something to do with a secret you're not telling me. Is there some deep dark secret in you're origins Izzy?"

Izzy froze. His skin turned cold and his eyes widened. He averted his gaze from Tentomon.

_Don't think about it,_ he thought to himself. _Don't think about it. If you don't think about it it won't bother you._

"_Don't you think it's time we told Izzy the truth dear?" _Came a voice from his memories.

_No,_ he scolded himself, _Don't._

"_No I'm afraid if we told him now it might be too big of a shock for him to handle,"_ came another voice.

_Stop it_, Izzy said to himself, screwing his eyes shut.

"_I know you're trying to do what's best for him but I'm afraid that once he finds out he'll be upset we didn't tell him sooner," _said the first voice.

A tear leaked out of the corner of Izzy's eye.

"_I know, but we just can't think about that right now," _the second voice said in response.

"Izzy?" Tentomon said urgently. Izzy shook his head and wiped his cheek.

"Uh, what did you say?" he said, trying to hide the quake in his voice.

"You were acting rather strangely," Tentomon said with concern. "And there's something strange about your laptop. Look."

Izzy looked at the screen of his laptop and his eyes widened. The codes he had been trying to break were floating around the screen, stretching and warping.

"Perhaps Izzy instead of focussing on the problem you should look for a solution?" Tentomon suggested. "Your friends are in trouble Izzy, can't you feel it in your bones?"

Izzy felt a vibrating in his pocket. He dipped his hand into it and retrieved the device he had retrieved at summer camp. It was vibrating rapidly, the screen flashing odd colours.

"It's been activated by something," he whispered.

"Tentomon to Izzy-mon are you reading me?" Tentomon called.

The codes were replaced with a three dimension line art image that showed two figures sitting in a tall cylindrical structure, himself and Tentomon. The image zoomed out quickly, showing the factory and then the entire island.

"This is merely scientific speculation," Izzy said, "But I believe I have stumbled onto something more than just a simple computer game, and I'm about to abandon my alien theory as well."

Tentomon had been listening intently to Izzy's explanation before he began to smoke.

"Oh my it's getting hot in here," he cried, a strange blue light criss-crossing over his body. "Ow, ow! I'm burning up! Do something quickly Izzy I'm being zapped!"

Izzy looked again at the strange device before looking at the laptop. Had this started because of this device he held in his hand, or the one that lay on the floor? He took a guess and pressed the power button on his laptop, turning it off.

The effect was immediate. The device he was hold stopped vibrating, the screen faded to black and Tentomon stopped glowing and smoking. He slumped where he stood, his antenna drooping to the floor.

"I don't like computers," he muttered sulkily.

"Well this computer just helped me understand a lot more about this world," Izzy said excitedly, packing the device away. "I've got to tell the others."

(X)

"I think we got away from him," Joe panted.

"For how long though?" Tai muttered.

No one answered. No one wanted to think about if Andromon got loose. Tai cleared his throat.

"We'll deal with that when and if it comes," he said, "Right now we've got to find Hagurumon and the others and let them know what's going on. Maybe they can come up with something."

The others nodded in agreement.

"Only problem is," Tai said, "Where do we find them?"

Agumon lifted his head and sniffed the air.

"Digimon that way," he said, pointing a clawed hand down a corridor.

"You sure?" Tai asked.

"Positive," Agumon said.

"Andromon?" Joe asked.

"No," Agumon said. "Andromon doesn't have a smell."

Tai looked at the others. Sora shrugged.

"It's the best lead we've got," she said.

There was an almighty crash from somewhere in the distance. Tai exchanged horrified glances with Joe and Sora before turning to Agumon.

"That way you say?" he said.

(X)

Hagurumon turned, towards the sound of the crash, frowning.

"I thought they went to go sort whatever's making that noise," he muttered.

"Do you think we should go look for them?" Matt asked. Hagurumon looked at him, thinking.

"If something else managed to get into the factory past me and the old guy," he said to himself, "Then chances are whatever's causing those noises is more than a technical fault. Yes, I suppose we better go look for them."

"Great," Matt said, relieved. "Where are they?"

Hagurumon drew out a small device from thin air and began to scroll through some sort of code.

"Not in there," he muttered, "Nor there. Ah there they are. Their coming this way." He frowned suddenly. "And so's the old guy. Geez I haven;t seen him move that fast in years."

"Hey guys!" Everyone turned to see Izzy racing into the room, looking red faced and out of breath but ecstatic nonetheless.

"Izzy," Matt said, "What's up?"

"I thought you were charging your laptop?" T.K. said.

"I was," Izzy said excitedly, his face beaming, "Until I stumbled onto something incredible."

"Well what was it?" Matt asked, curious.

"I discovered through no easy means," Izzy said quickly, "That in this world, basic data and simple information is a living, viable substance!"

"In plain English?" T.K. muttered.

"Basically," Izzy said, ignoring T.K.'s sarcasm, "Facts that we could simply look up on the internet back home have their own thoughts and behaviours! Here, data is alive!"

Matt looked at T.K. and Mimi, confused.

"How can data be alive?" Matt asked.

Izzy opened his mouth to respond, but something white and large collided with Izzy.

"Ow!" Izzy cried.

"Sorry," the thing groaned.

Gomamon rolled off of Izzy and held a clawed hand to his head and climbed steadily to his feet.

"Gomamon?" Matt asked. "Where's Joe and the others?"

"They're on their way," Gomamon mumbled dizzily.

On queue, Tai and the others sprinted into the room, breathless and looking relieved.

"Any chance you can tell us what was causing that racket?" Hagurumon asked.

"That... can... wait," Tai panted. "Andromon... he's..."

"He's what?" Hagurumon asked sharply. "What's happened to him?"

"He's gone crazy!" Joe exclaimed. "He kept on ranting about vengeance and intruders!"

Hagurumon looked shocked for a moment.

"Didn't you say that he was coming this way?" Izzy said tentatively.

"Yep," Hagurumon said, his voice cracking.

The wall beside them exploded. Andromon stepped through the devastation, his eyes glowing blue, his expression grim.

"Intruders will be silenced," he roared. His thick chest panel opened to reveal two cannon-like openings.

"Andromon what are you doing?" Hagurumon asked in shock.

"Brining targets into firing range," Andromon drawled, seemingly failing to hear Hagurumon's pleas as two, large grey missiles slotted into place.

"Andromon its me!" Hagurumon cried. "Hagurumon! Your friend."

"Gatling Attack!" Andromon cried. There was a burst of fire and the rockets launched.  
>"RUN!" Hagurumon screamed.<p>

The group scattered as the missiles flew past. One missile slammed into the opposite wall, leading into an open air section of the factory. The second swivelled and flipped over, before impact, flying straight back at the group. A small hatch opened on the bottom to reveal a large, revolving turret.

"You have got to be kidding me!" Tai cried.

A hail of bullets flew at them, ricocheting off of the metal floor. The missile adjusted course slightly and flew towards Tai, Joe, Sora and their Digimon. Hagurumon turned towards Andromon, a scowl on his face as Tai and the others danced back from the raging bullet storm.

"Andromon stop it!" he yelled.

Andromon looked at him for a long moment before he held a hand to his head, the glowing blue of his eyes flickering for a moment before he swung at Hagurumon with a vicious backhand. Hagurumon flew into a nearby wall, travelled straight through the metal and into the room beyond.

Meanwhile Tai was still dodging bullets, but was doing so filled with energy he had come to expect before Agumon Digivolved. Knowing he would feel absolutely drained after it happened, Tai could only hope Greymon would stop the attack.

Within a moment however Tai was drained and Agumon was jumping bullets much faster, and was growing. Within a few seconds Greymon swung his powerful tail against the missile, sending it careering off into a wall.

Greymon stomped and turned to face Andromon, growling. Andromon however turned on Matt, T.K. Izzy, Mimi and their Digimon. He raised one metallic arm with a sinister style.

"Grasp Hang!" he roared. He lashed his arm out, the heavy metal forearm flying out on a long, winding cable. Matt ducked under swipe of the arm, the metal contours of its edge just clipping the top of his head. Though not a particularly painful blow, it still stung and was sufficient to knock Matt sideways.

He was dizzy for a few moments as lay on the floor. His dizziness was quickly banished by a sudden burst of energy. Matt rolled to his feet. Andromon took a step towards him only to be blocked by a snarling Greymon. While Andromon towered over the human, Greymon dwarfed him, his horns scraping the ceiling of the metal room. Andromon scowled and raised his hand again,

"Come on then," Greymon growled. "Bring it."

"Feeble weakling," Andromon snarled.

"Nova Blast!" Greymon cried.

Andromon smirked. He lashed his metal arm through the ball of flames, dispersing it around him. Greymon's only indication of surprise was the slight widening of his eyes. Garurumon padded up beside Greymon, hackles raised. Although Garurumon wasn't as big as Greymon he was still much larger than Andromon.

"Let's take him," Garurumon growled.

"Agreed," Greymon snorted.

Garurumon pounced, leaping at Andromon. Andromon bent his knees in preparation for the attack. Andromon's powerful hands grabbed Garurumon's powerful jaws, before flipping the larger Digimon clean out of the hole in the wall.

"Garurumon!" Matt cried.

Andromon ignored these cries and instead turned to Greymon. The metallic Digimon ran at the dinosaur and leapt into the air, delivering a powerful kick round Greymon's face. The large Digimon roared and staggered under the powerful blow. Andromon landed in a crouch and ran at Greymon again, punching him in the stomach. Greymon flew straight through the wall and dropped out of sight.

"Greymon!" Tai screamed.

Andromon leapt out of the hole after the two Digimon. The humans and remaining Digimon chased to the hole in the wall and looked down at the fight.

"How can he be beating both of our Digimon?" Tai asked, shocked.

"Maybe it's because he's all machine?" Sora suggested as Garurumon was thrown bodily on top of Greymon.

"Could we... lose?" Matt whispered.

"Maybe he'll run out of gas?" Joe suggested hopefully.

"Gas..." Izzy muttered.

_Is it possible Andromon runs off of the same energy produce by the battery?_ Izzy thought to himself. He looked at Tentomon. _Perhaps I can use that to our advantage._

He opened his laptop and reopened the program he had used inside the battery to attempt and decipher the codes.

"Izzy what are you doing?" Tentomon asked.

"The codes from earlier seemed to have triggered some sort of reaction with you, and my device," he said, already hacking away. "It is my belief, that somewhere in these codes is the key to allowing you to Digivolve."

Tentomon looked at Izzy before looking back down at the fight. Andromon was now grappling with Greymon and was winning, driving the huge Digimon to the ground.

"Well if that's true," Tentomon said looking at Izzy, "Then hurry up. I don't think those two can hold out much more."

"Give me a nano here," Izzy muttered, his fingers flying across the keyboard. He always felt energised when he was using his computer. Yet this time it felt different. He was practically buzzing with some strange energy. He paid no attention to this however, preferring to focus on the task at hand. Within a minutes of launching the program the codes had begun to fly across the screen as they had before. Izzy looked at Tentomon, and felt suddenly drained.

His partner however looked positively electrified. He was quaking from head to toe. His carapace was changing colour, becoming blue grey instead of maroon. An armoured shell began to grow around his head, with a long, beetle like horn. The shell split open around his mouth, revealing long, powerful teeth. The shell over his back receded into his body and his long insect like wings stretched out to their full extent. His two arm-like limbs became more immediately human, growing long tapered fingers. And then he began to grow, until he became as tall as Greymon.

"We did it," Izzy breathed in shock and pride. "Tentomon You've Digivolved."

"Got that right," the new Digimon grunted, his voice guttural, yet retaining some traces of Tentomon's mannerisms. "And it's Kabuterimon now." He looked down at the battle and bent his legs, beating his powerful wings in a roaring buzz. He leapt into the air, and dived at Andromon.

The mechanical Digimon turned to face the new challenger and raised one mechanical limb.

"Grasp Hang!" he cried, flinging his arm at Kabuterimon. The larger Digimon nimbly dodged the attack and flew past Andromon and swiped at him with one powerful strike.

Andromon grunted as he was forced to take a step back. Kabuterimon flew back up into the air and spun around. Izzy could tell his partner was trying to find some sort of weak-spot on Andromon's body. A direct attack was futile as Greymon and Garurumon had already proven.

Izzy was the one to find it however. Andromon's right leg was in some need of some serious repair. It was clear it had been in some sort of recent accident.

"His right leg!" Izzy cried to Kabuterimon. "Attack his right leg!"

Kabuterimon looked at Izzy then Andromon then Izzy. He gave his partner the thumbs up. He drew his hands up to his chest and bowed his head. There was a crackling of energy and a ball of blue and purple electricity appeared before him.

"Electro Shocker!" he roared, spreading his arms wide, the ball of electricity flying from him and straight at Andromon. The mechanical Digimon prepared to deflect the attack when Garurumon appeared behind him.

"Howling Blaster!" he cried, attack Andromon's unprepared back. As Andromon tried to turn to defend himself from behind, Kabuterimon's attack struck his right leg. He screamed in agony and clasped his hands to his head. Something shot from his leg, a small black something in the shape of a gear. It flew from where it had been embedded in Andromon and struck a nearby metal wall where it shattered into fragments.

Andromon collapsed to his knees, quivering from head to toe. After a few moments he got shakily to his feet. The blue glaze in his eyes was gone and there was dazed expression on his face.

"Where am I?" he asked, confused.

(X)

After a few lengthy explanations had passed Andromon had recovered Hagurumon from where he had been thrown, relatively unharmed. Afterwards Andromon had apologised profusely.

"Don't sweat it," Tai said. "We've seen something like this before. "You're not the first Digimon this has happened to."

"Even so I feel horrible for what I must have put you through," Andromon said, smiling sadly. "I wish there was some way I could make it up to you."

"If you could tell us a better way to get around without facing the heat then that'd be great," Matt said smiling.

Andromon paused, lifting one hand to his chin. He smiled suddenly and twisted his body, pointing to a large open pipe in the wall.

"You could use the underground waterways," Andromon suggested. "The air down there is a little stale, but it is cool and it will take you across the island. You will also be able to avoid most forms of hostile Digimon down there."

(AN: It would also make a great fast travel system if they ever made a game. Am I right?)

"Thank you Andromon," the group chorused as one.

Andromon smiled and turned to Hagurumon as the group walked to the tunnel.

"Perhaps I have been too wrapped up in old affairs?" he said smiling sadly. "I have forgotten what the outside world was like."

Hagurumon smiled too.

"Well it's still there if you wanna take a look," he said beaming.


End file.
